The Road to Recovery
by day-or-knight
Summary: Erin Lindsay has lead a rough life, from being a drug addict living on the streets to becoming a Detective in the Intelligence Unit. But, after a tragic death she spirals out of control and goes back to her old ways, can she recover? Who, if anyone, will help her? (Set After 2x23)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys! I have been working hard on this new fic. (and if you follow my other two fics _Fighting the War_ and _This Morning_ , I have not given up on them, I will be updating those later this week:)) But anywho... If you like Review and Follow, it makes these hot summer days so much better! **

**Side-note: Is it September 30th yet?!**

* * *

Three Months Ago she was on Cloud Nine. She had an amazing boyfriend and partner, a kick-ass job, everything she could ask for.

Two Months Ago she found herself searching for a life-raft. She had to break-up with her boyfriend because of her boss and pseudo-father, and then her and her partner got reassigned to new partners. And then to top it off on her birthday, of all days, the girl she rescued off the streets turned best friend and roommate was killed by a cold blooded psychopath, taken off the street as she went out to get a cake for a surprise birthday party.

One Month Ago she was falling into what felt like a bottomless pit. She was sleeping around with her old 'friends', shooting-up with her dealer, and popping oxy like it was candy. She even went crawling back to her pathetic so called mother. And then she really hit rock bottom, she quit her job, she was tired of everyone asking if she was ok, she was tired of the pain she felt.

* * *

"Erin quit." Voight announced to those present before stomping away into his office in disappointment and in anger, shutting the door.

Disappointment in himself for not being there to catch her, not being able to see the signs that she was going off track. Anger at Bunny for coming back into her life and causing even more problems when he had clearly told her to stay away.

He had been sitting in his office no more than two minutes when a knock came at his door. His head in between his arms he muffled "Come In."

"Hey, Sarg-" the man asked shutting the door behind him.  
"Did you know about this Halstead?" He asked looking up at the younger detective that stood in front of his desk.

"No Sir. But, what are we going to do about it?" Jay asked, looking towards her badge and gun sitting on the desk.

"I don't know. I have talked to her till I was blue in the face and then I woke up this morning, with a text message asking me to come to Bunny's bar and that where I found her and left her.. Actually Bunny kicked me out." He said leaning back in his chair, hands on the back of his head.

"Let me try." Jay told with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Hank thought for a few minutes and reluctantly agreed.

"Well, you are her partner and you do seem to know her now better than I do. Go."

Jay stood with a look of shock on his face.

"I said go Halstead. Do I need to taser you to get you movin'?"

"No Sir." Jay said as he walked towards the door.

"Good. And Halstead? Bring her back in one piece, if Bunny becomes a problem, just reminder her that I can still put her in jail for the November 1994 incident, for child endangerment as well as whatever other bull you want to make up. Also tell Platt that I need to borrow someone for the day."

Jay smirked before walking out the door and towards his desk, grabbing the keys off the wood. He ran down the stairs, Antonio and Olinsky both staring him down.

"Where you going Halstead?" Atwater asked as him, Ruzek and Burgess entered the lobby.

"I gotta go talk to a CI about something, be back later." He said walking over to the desk sergeant. "Hey Platt, Voight said he needs someone upstairs for the day."

"Oh really? And why, Detective Chuckles couldn't he tell me this himself?" she inquired.

"Because something has come up and he asked me to tell you to take care of it." He told her giving his signature grin.

"Fine." She agreed rolling her eyes. "Hey Burgess, get your skinny little ass over here." She called over to the patrolwoman.

With that Jay went running out the front doors of the twenty-first, to the Chrysler 300, immediately pulling off the side of the street and onto the main road, in the direction of Bunny's bar.

He broke several laws and may have caused an accident to get to the bar, but he reached it in record time, pulling up in front of the rugged building in a mere ten minutes, a far cry from the normal thirty.

He jumped out of the driver side, which felt wrong to him, he loved her driving and loved to give her a hard time about always driving. He casually walked into the bar, which smelt of stale beer and cheap cigars, his eyes in search of the dirty-blonde headed woman. His eyes leading him to the woman dressed in a blue top with her head down at the bar, several shot glasses flipped upside-down in front of her. Jay quietly walks over, taking a seat on the tattered stool.

"Normally I would offer to buy you a drink, but it seems as though you have already met the quota and its only 11 o'clock in the morning." He said as he glanced at his watch.

"I was wondering when Voight would send you." Erin said, not lifting her head from the bar.

"Well, first of all he didn't send me, I came down here on my own and second of all why did you quit?" he inquired.

"Whatever Halstead, you can say what you want but I wouldn't believe you otherwise."

"Well, you going to answer my other question?" he pestered.

She knew that he would not leave her alone, not until he had an answer. She took a long pull from the beer in front of her, and turned toward him, opening her mouth to answer.

"I quit be-" she was rudely cut off.

"Detective Halstead, how can I be of assistance here?" the woman said coming up behind the couple at the bar.

"Bunny. Why don't you go crawl back into the hole you came out of and leave us alone." Jay said looking at Erin. He was astounded at how much the woman beside him had changed in the short amount of time since he had last seen her, that being when she had a bounty placed on her forehead and was jumped in her apartment with her boy-toy and drug dealer Landon. She seemed skinnier, fragile, almost as if he was to touch her, she would crumble underneath his fingertips. Her skin was pale, almost a jaundice color, from the lack of sun. The person sitting before him looked and sounded like the woman he loved but the way she spoke and acted it was like a different person before him.

"Excuse Me? I think that you need to leave before I call the cops!"

"Seriously? Are you stupid enough to call the cops on a cop, you really think they will do anything?"

"Fine, I won't call the cops. Yet. But leave my daughter alone, she is no longer employed under your reigning superior."  
"I am just sitting here having a conversation with my _partner_. I have no reason to leave."

"Can't you see she doesn't want to talk? What part of that don't you understand?"

"November 1994. Bunny."

"What? How'd you-?"

"Leave Bunny. Or would you rather walk out of here in handcuffs?" he threatened unclipping the metal from his belt loop.

The older haphazard woman went stomping out the front door, huffing and puffing, about to blow the roof off the bar.

"Why'd you do that Jay? Everything she said was true, maybe I don't want to talk." She told him, rebuilding the walls that he had carefully brought down.

He ignored her question, the way that she had ignored his earlier.

"So, how are you?"

"Peachy. I suppose I am supposed to care enough to ask you how you are?" she said, rolling her eyes taking the last swig of her beer, raising her hand to the bartender for another one.

"Yes, you are supposed to care and somewhere inside that thick pig-headed skull of yours, you do care. I am worried, Er." He spated at her.

"You? Worried? Please, the only thing you worry about is One: whether or not the take-out will arrive warm, and Two: whether or not the Blackhawks are going to win the Stanley Cup or not." She laughed, picking at the label on her new bottle of beer.

"Wrong. The take-out thing only happened once, and it did arrive warm, thank you very much. Two, the Blackhawks are going all the way and you know it, you are just as big of a fan as I am. But you forgot number three."

"Oh? And what's that? The safety of Will and the mad house at PD?" she said taking a sip of brew.

"No, You." His comment caused her to spit her beer out, knocking over the bottle in the process.

"Me?" she said wiping up the mess.

"Yes you. Do you know how many sleepless nights I have because of you?"

"No, you shouldn't be losing sleep over me Halstead. I was a pathetic cop and a lousy friend. Pathetic because I actually had hope that she would be found alive, you know? I had helped her turn her life around, get her off the streets and clean. Only to be disappointed when we found her raped, tortured and then murdered, her glazed over brown eyes looking up into the grey skies of New York. I often ask myself 'What was her last thought? What did she see last? Did she die slow and painfully or was it quick? Where would she be today?' and then I remember that it is my fault that she died. All because of my imprudent birthday. You know, she would have graduated from the academy yesterday?"

Jay has no words, words were not needed, as this was probably the first time she got all of this off her chest. Instead, he did what he felt was needed at the time, a small gesture of compassion and comfort. He took her left hand into his, holding it, rubbing circles on her skin as she opened up to him.

"I am a lousy friend. Nad- She would always come into the apartment with tales of what they had learned that day, and it brought memories back from my time at the academy and how much I have changed since then. I'm worthless to Hank, look at all the hard work he had put into getting me clean almost sixteen years ago, only for me to throw it all away in one night. I don't deserve to be a cop at this point, I mean I can't even pass a simple drug test at this point. And I most certainly don't deserve you, I haven't been your back-up in weeks, our 'one day' got thrown over the fence like a grand slam at Wrigley Field..."

"You cannot sit here and say that you are pathetic and lousy. You know as well as I do that Yates, would have killed someone else, if it had not been for Nadia. Your head was on that chopping block too Erin, he could have just as easily gone after you. Your birthday had nothing to do with her dying, he would have just grabbed her from another place and on another day. And Hank? He still loves you, when I walked into his office this morning, I was looking at a man that is concerned about his _daughter_ , and his only care right now is for your safety. And Me, Er? You have been there when others weren't, I would be willing to take a bullet for you if it meant saving you. Our 'one day' will always be there, waiting for both of us when we are both ready to get caught and face Voight's wrath. I Love you, Erin Lindsay. Don't you forget that." He said before placing a kiss on her forehead.

After a few minutes of silence, Jay thought that she had fenced herself in her thoughts again and got up to leave.

"What part of your body would you sacrifice?" she asked staring straight ahead towards the wall of liquor. The question captured his attention, causing him to slowly sit back down.

"Hmmm… Shoulder? Or the fleshy part of the thigh?" he laughed.

"S,P, A, or G?" she questioned, this time looking towards him.

"You really are enjoying yourself aren't you?" he pestered. "Shoulders. Please."

"Nope sorry, G. And last question, for $1000 is, what does retiring to Northern Wisconsin entail?"

"The cabin that my grandfather built and moved, a relaxing summer retreat, and bald-eagles flying around."

"Wrong again! It has snowmobiling, ice fishing and meth labs." She responded, playfully punching his arm.

"Ok, Ok, Ok. What do you say we leave this place before it leaves a permanent mark on your skin?" he asked, his hand still holding hers.

"I don't know Jay…"

"Come On Erin. Let's get out of here." He told her, hoping Bunny wouldn't return.

She slowly yet hesitantly agreed, paying for her drinks before stumbling out the door. Had it not been for Jay, she would have fallen over, his hand holding a death grip on her waist. They had made it out the front doors, Jay thinking he was clear of her psychotic mother.

"And just where do you think you are going with my daughter, detective?" he heard the voice question from against the bar of the bar.

"Away. Away from you. Away from Work. Away from Chicago." He spat in her face.

"You can't do that!' she yelled 'and here are the people to make sure you won't!"

He turned himself and Erin around, seeing a patrol car pulling up.

"I told you I would call the cops. Now, if you let her go, I will say that all this is just a big misunderstanding." She quietly yelled.

The officers got out of the vehicle, approaching the scene.

"Detective." One of the young officers stated, hands on his duty belt.

"Roman."

"Do we have a problem here?" the young patrolman asked.

"Nope, I was just helping my intoxicated friend here to my car, but this woman seems to think that I am taking her daughter away."

"Ma'am. Your daughter is a grown woman, meaning she is old enough to make her own decisions, therefore, I am unable to interfere unless I see a presence of danger, which I do not."

"Roman." Jay nodded his head, thanking the young patrolman, who was well aware of the situation.

"Detective." Sean nodded back as Jay walked towards his car.

Jay and Erin made it to the car, Jay safely buckling her in on the passenger side. No more than a mile down the road and she was sound asleep, her head resting on the window. Jay quickly pulled out his phone, calling the person that allowed him to go after her in the first place. The phone call ended as quickly as it began.

Twenty minutes later, Jay pulled up in front of the two story house, running around to the passenger side, slowly opening the door. He carefully unbuckled her and picked her up, carrying her to the front door. He was about to gently kick the glass, when the door flew open.

"Bring her in here, you can lay her down on the couch." The gruff voice told him.

"Her last drink was about thirty minutes ago, I can't tell you when her last shoot-up was but it was recent judging by the trac marks on her arm."

"Thanks Halstead."

"Voight, what are we going to do?" he asked turning towards his superior.

Voight was about to answer when they heard a whine coming from the couch.

"Ugh, I seriously need to stop drinking so much." She said laughing at the foolish thought, placing a hand on her forehead.

Jay and Voight both walked over to the couch, exchanging glances as they realized she had no idea where she was.

She slowly opened up her eyes, blinking away the little sleep that had formed in the crests, only to have two sets of eyes staring down at her.

"What the Hell?" she thought aloud.

"Well hello to you too." Voight smarted off.

"How did I get here? Because I am certain that it was not by my own free will. And what are you doing here? What are you now, Voights lap dog?" she spated, sitting up on the couch, nausea threatening to take over her body, it took every nerve in her body to control it.

"Well first of all you agreed to come, on your own free will. Second of all, I am the one that found you in that dump and brought you here. And lastly, Voight has graciously allowed you to be here, so I would treat him with some respect." Jay mouthed off right back to her.

She could have sworn that this was all a dream, that Jay would definitely not treat her like that. She quickly stood, the room spinning around like a merry-go-round. She quickly found moving to be a mistake, the nausea taking over her, she drunkenly bolted, hardly making it to the bathroom, dragging herself along the ceramic tile as she emptied the contents of her stomach. She quickly found a hand on her back, another one holding her hair. She used to be a strong and courageous woman, now she felt small and pathetic. She eventually felt well enough to be able to stand, shoving the muscular man off her shoulders, she slowly walked over to the sink, splashing water on her face, running a cup full of water rinsing out her mouth.

She looked up into the reversible glass, only for mere seconds unable to look at the person she has become, anger and heartache quickly began tugging at the strings of her heart. She felt vulnerable, unable to control her grief, the tears began to dwell in her eyes, quickly making their way down her cheek. She immediately felt the muscular arms engulf her, wrapping around her shoulders. She instantly tried to pull back, but his hold only grew tighter.

As she was pressed into his chest, her sense of smell became engulfed in the musky aroma of Old Spice and gunpowder, taking her back to one of the last times she felt his arms wrapped around her. The cold April morning that she wished was just a bad dream, they had found Nadia's body strewn in a pile of sand like she was yesterday's garbage, her skin was pale and bruised. She had seen many corpses in her career, but her emotions got the best of her, she felt herself breaking at the sight of the tattered body in front of her, that was when she felt his tall stature with his arms around her overpowering her petite figure, breaking down in his arms. She was broken then and he was there to pick her up. She is broken still and here he is again. Prepared to be her knight in shining Kevlar as always.

"Why do you care so much?" she asked into his chest.

"What?" he asked, taken back by her question.

"Why do you care, about me, about my life? Why do you feel the need to be involved in the life of a relapsed drug addict and alcoholic? Which would be me, Erin Lindsay. And don't say because of 'one day' I want to hear something other than 'one day'."

They stood for a few minutes, while Jay collected his thoughts. Why did she think that he did not care?

"You're my partner, and I Love you. I care because maybe if your problems became my problems then we could both work them out, together. I don't care about the past Lindsay, hell, I've done that crap too. And maybe, your problems are worse, compared to my prior PTSD but I found help, and I got better, and I think that it's your turn." He told her, sloppily kissing her forehead.

"So this is an intervention?" she asked.

"Well No. Yes. Maybe?" he said, unsure of how to answer.

She retracted from his arms. "I need to go." She said making her way down the hall.

"Where?" he questioned followed her every footstep.

"Just.. leave me alone." She demanded, he quickly grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"No, you are not leaving, and if you try, Voight has a unit sitting outside."

"Controlling much?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. He quickly pinned her up against the wall, throwing her hands in a cuff-lock above her head, their bodies pinned up next to one another.

"You may have control over me at work Lindsay, but I happen to know that you have a fetish for when I take control in let's just say extra-curricular activities." He said whispering in her ear.

He pulled back studying her face, chuckling at the hugh of redness in her cheeks.

"You want some water?" he said, knowing he left her in a hot mess.

"Umm, y.. yeah. That would be nice."

He left the room, for no longer than two minutes, by the time he returned, he was shocked at the sight in front of him.

"What the hell?!" he yelled, dropping the glass of water.

"I just need a line. One more line and I will stop." She said as she lined up the white powder on the glass table.

He ran over, grabbing her by the wrists, jerking her up off the couch.

"NO, Erin. I mean… where did you even get the stuff from, I was gone for like two minutes?" he spated in her face.

"You know for a detective, sometimes you are not all that smart.. You should have checked my jacket." She informed him.

He ran a hand over his face, settling it over his jaw as he replayed and studied the events that just transpired.

"You are leaving in two days. Two Days. For rehab. You know yes, this is partially my fault as it cannot be Voights since he is at the precinct, but it is also your fault. You have a problem Erin! How much did you take?"

"None." She said staring at the floor like a child.

"Look at me." He demanded, taking his hand, lifting up her chin.

"I didn't take any! I swear!"

"Ok." He told her as he walked over to the glass table, putting the white powder back into the bag, grabbing the credit card off the table. He walked towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" she questioned.

"I am taking care of the problem Er." He said as he emptied the contents in the baggie into the latrine. "You want the honors, or me?"

She turned her back to him, silently voicing her answer. _Flush._ She let out a sigh, a sigh of relief, walking back into the living room.

"Ok. So I have a slight problem."

"Yes, you do."

"I will go to rehab. Under one condition." She declared sternly.

"And what would that be.."

"When I return, I will think about us getting more than 'one day'." She said with hope.

"Deal. Now I would kiss you, but we are in Voights house.." he laughed.

The next two days flew by like the days of summer, Jay spent his days at Voights house, comforting Erin as she went through her withdraw, keeping an eye on her that she did not go for more or leave the house and at night Voight would come in and take over.

As Erin's last day of so called 'freedom' rolled around, she packed the few things she had at Voights, Halstead grabbing the rest of her things from her apartment as Hank kept a watchful eye on her.

"Ok, so you sure you have everything?" Jay asked as he shut the hatch on Voights SUV.

"Yes, for the millionth time, yes." She said rolling her eyes.

"Good. Well I guess this is goodbye." He said with his hands in his pockets, standing on the heel of his shoes.

"It's not forever Halstead. Just don't forget our promise."

"And what would that be?" Voight asked as he walked up to the vehicle.

"Oh, Jay here promised me that one, he wouldn't get used to driving; two, he wouldn't break in the new guy, and three was.."

"Three was for her to get better and get back so I can prove that I am a better shot and because I don't trust Ruzek with my back. Kidding, just kidding boss."

"Good. Lets Go." Said the sergeant.

"Bye Er." He told her pulling her into a hug, not caring that Voight was there.

"Bye Jay." She said, tears dwelling in her eyes at the thought of leaving him, but she knew she had to go and recover, get better. He helped her into the car, shutting the door like a gentleman.

As the SUV pulled away, Jay couldn't help but look towards the foreseen future, the one with Mrs. Erin Halstead. 'Has a nice ring to it.' He thought, laughing to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, enjoy the new chapter. Quick note, the date and location in this chapter are completely random, I pulled them both off the top of my head.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD nor any of the characters.**

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*TEN MONTHS TWO WEEKS AND THREE DAYS LATER*

As Erin Lindsay stepped through the doors and out of the rehab facility near Des Moines, Iowa, she felt like her old self, the police badass. The cool April air hitting her as she hailed a taxi and made her way to the bus station, she was ready to go home. But it seems as though home was not ready for her, her four and a half hour bus drive ended up taking almost seven due to the bus breaking down. But it was ok, because she was on cloud nine. During her stint at rehab, no one came to visit, and she was ok with that, because if they had then she would probably have relapsed, begging them to take her home. Though no one visited, they did call often. She heard from Hank and Jay the most, almost every other day, Antonio, Olinsky, and Burgess once a week, while Platt, Atwater and Ruzek called when they could. When her bus finally arrived to the station in Chicago, she practically ran off the steps, grabbing her stuff and running to the garage nearby where her car was stored at. She threw her bags in the trunk and took off down the streets of Chicago, knowing where she needed to go and what she needed to do.

She pulled up in front of the two story house, quickly shutting off the engine and getting out of the car. She ran up the steps as quietly as possible and knocked on the door. She knew he was home, it was Sunday after all, he was probably preparing the Sunday dinner. She heard a voice yell from inside that it would be just a second, and after a few minutes she heard footsteps approach the antique wooden door.

"Erin?" he said as the door flew open.

"I'm back." Was all she could say, her hands shoved in her pockets.

"I see that. Please come in."

"Thank you. So how've you been Hank?" she asked as she stepped into the foyer and living room.

"Good, I was just fixing to sit down and eat a roast, care to join?"

"Sure, you by yourself? I figured Justin, Olive and Ben would have been here."

"No, they couldn't make it today, the Ben is sick and with him have been in the NICU they didn't want to drag him out." He told her as he sat the food on the table.

"Oh. Well, glad I could make it then." She said as she fixed her plate.

They were halfway through the meal when Erin could not hold back from asking any longer. "So how's work?"

"We took half a mill in coke off the street last week, par Halstead getting beat up, it was a good bust." Hank told her, shoving a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"What?!' she choked, dropping her fork onto her plate 'what do you mean Jay got beat up? Where was his back up?" she interrogated.

"Just what I said, he got beat up. We busted into the warehouse, Atwater and Halstead had the rear and somehow they got separated and our suspect was waiting behind a door, got the jump on him." Voight explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, if it is ok with you I would like to reclaim my spot in intelligence."

He sat there, in silence thinking. "You want some dessert, I have pie, you want Apple or Strawberry?"

"Hank, you're avoiding my question."

"Answer mine first."

"Fine, Apple." She told him as he got up, cleaning up their dishes.

"I will let you come back, but there are some stipulations." He declared.

"Anything." She voiced, she didn't care what it took, she just wanted her job back.

"One, you will take a drug test, as it is now mandatory for this unit, every six months. Two, you will have to get requalified on your service weapon as well as the long arm. Three, you will be re-partnered with Halstead which brings me to number Four, the old rules still apply; my unit, my rules."

"One, I will take the drug test, anything to prove to you that I am back. Two, you are talking to the person who has the better shot in the partnership of number three, thank you by the way, and four doesn't the old rules always apply when it comes to me. I just want to help bring justice back to this city, to these streets, my streets, the way that you taught me."

"Ok." He said handing over her badge.

"Thank You Hank."

"I'm Proud of you Erin, just don't fall down the rabbit hole again." He instructed.

"I won't." She told him smiling. She helped wash the dishes and clean up dinner, saying her goodbyes and that she would see him bright and early tomorrow morning.

She hopped into the car, now that she had her job back, there was only one thing left to do.

* * *

She found the drive to his house antagonizing, even though it took her no more than twenty minutes to get there. The thoughts in her mind was running a mile a minute. Wondering what he looks like after all these months, or would he be surprised to see her, was two of the many questions. She turned off the car, glancing up towards his apartment to see a light on.

'Good, he's home. Of course, why wouldn't he be? Its only 8:30 of a night.' She mentally argued with herself over the stupid thought. She got out of the car, and as casually as she could for a woman who had not seen her partner and best friend in almost eleven months, she made her way up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

She made it to his door and up the four flights of steps after noticing that maintenance still had yet to fix the elevator. She slowed her pace and evened her breathing. As she stood in front of the door, she found the words of her 'I'm back' speech dissipating, and soon found herself pacing, questioning her track-of-thought as to if it was the right thing to do to come over. She went over the pros and cons, and almost walked away, until her body found its way back to his door, giving it a soft knock.

A few moments later, she heard the chain-lock being undone, and the door slowly opened. Erin nervously tucked the hair behind her ears, and looked to the ground, shoving her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket.

"Just a second!" She heard the voice before her say.

She immediately looked up. 'That is most certainly not Halstead.' She thought.

"Hi, I'm Um.. Sorry, I must have the wrong apartment." Erin told the gorgeous woman in-front of her. The blonde headed woman was dressed in a short plum dress that barely came down to cover her thighs, a pair of black stilettos showed off her legs, a black leather jacket cut off at the mid-waist covering her arms, her make-up was minimal and her hair was curled and pulled back.

"Not if you're the limo driver. You're ten minutes late." The woman argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I do not drive a limo, sorry. I was actually looking for a friend but I must have the wrong apartment, sorry for-" she was explaining, before she was interrupted.

"Hey Rache! Is that the limo driver? If not we are going to be late." she heard the ever so familiar voice ask.

"Not the limo driver!" she yelled back into the apartment.

"Well, I wish the fucking guy would hurry his lazy ass up before we-" he said as he got closer to the door, from the kitchen. "Lindsay?"

"I'm Sorry, it looks as though I was mistaken. Enjoy your life Halstead." She told them, holding back the tears threatening to fall, before she ran down the corridor and down the stairs.

"Erin. Wait come back. Erin!" he yelled as he chased after her in his tux.

She quickly made it to her car, jumping in and burning rubber as she took off into the night down the Chicago street, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

'I can't believe I was so stupid! How could I be so stupid as to think that he actually would wait?'

"God Erin!" She thought speaking out loud. She heard her phone ringing from the passenger seat, the one that still smelt of him, the smell of his cologne lingering in the car after all these months. She ignored the phone knowing from the sound of AC/DC who it was, and tried to gain control of her emotions, keeping her eyes on the road. She was unsure of where she was driving to until it was almost too late, she chastised herself as she passed Bunny's bar, and then the corner where she would meet Landon, to buy her needs. She quickly sped away, and began driving towards Voights, she couldn't go back to her apartment, not after losing Nadia. She had planned on buying a new apartment or even moving in with Jay, not to go over to his place and see the picture perfect woman standing in his doorway. She was about half-way to Hanks, her phone ringing non-stop, and finally having had enough, she wanted to hear what he had to say.

"What do you want Jay? You want to rub it in my face some more?" she asked flatly, the tears still threatening to fall, anger and heartbreak pulling her emotions in two directions.

"Erin, please let me explain."

"Explain what Halstead? That you have moved on? That I am the one that ruined everything?"

"No, Er. It's not what you think."

"Then please expl-"

She was saying before she felt her body being thrown across the car. Her phone thrown from her hand on impact, she felt her body being tossed around like the tumble cycle of a dryer before coming to a stop. She felt blood, slowly trickling down her face; pain quickly spreading across her body, from her head to her legs, the amount of pain became too much to bear and she found darkness quickly rendering her unconscious.

"Shit Erin?! What was that?" Jay yelled on the other end. "Linds, talk to me.." he kept on repeating. "Damn It!" Jay said as he grabbed the keys off the table. "Rachel, call Will, tell him Erin's been in an accident." He told his brothers girlfriend as he ran out the door, phone still attached to his ear as he heard the sirens quickly approaching in the background.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Hope all of my fellow U.S readers had a great 4th of July and I hope that the rest of you had a great Saturday!:) Also, thank you for all the reviews and follows.**

 **A new week means a new chapter! There is quite a bit of medical/firefighting jargon and techniques used in this chapter but I tried to explain or put in detail what was going on. Enjoy!**

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"Alright, Capp I want you to stabilize the car. Cruz, grab the halligan and try to get the driver side door open. Tony grab a fire extinguisher and spray it under the hood, also disconnect the battery. Everyone else prepare the Jaws, and get sand on the leaking fluids. Truck is taking care of the other car. Let's move!" Lieutenant Kelly Severide instructed as Rescue Squad Company three arrived to the scene.

Each firefighter quickly jumped out of the truck as it came to a stop at the scene and began doing as instructed. "Hey Severide!' Cruz yelled from the side of the car 'The door won't budge, were gonna have to use the Jaws!" he yelled to his commanding officer.

"Rescue three to Main, I need a chopper on stand-by for my location." Severide spoke into his radio.

"Main to Rescue three, all choppers are currently grounded due to weather in the area, advise transport patient via med unit at this time." The dispatcher instructed.

"Hey, the other guy is fine, a few minor cuts and bruises, another ambo is transporting him just in case, says this car ran the red light and apparently his car clipped this one just right, causing it to roll somewhere around five times. What do you need from us?" asked Truck Lieutenant Matt Casey as he ran over to his comrade.

"Someone can help Cruz on the Jaws, but first I need someone to bust-out the windshield so we can cover the victim, once that's done we will work together on extraction."

"All right, Dawson, I want you to pop the windshield and get in there, tell us and Brett what we are dealing with. Once that is done, I want me and Hermann on the left, Otis and Severide on the right, everyone else helping as we get the roof off. Lets move!"

Truck member Gabriella Dawson quickly moved towards the car, jumping on the mangled hood, breaking the rest of the glass and pulling it out in chunks. Gabby made her way into the car, and to the patient who was located in the back of the car, stabilizing her with a cervical collar and slowly moving her way down from head to toe assessing for more injuries.

"What we looking at Dawson?" Paramedic Sylvie Brett asked from outside the vehicle.

"Caucasian female. Late 20s-Early 30s. Was not restrained and is currently at a 145 degree angle in the back floor board. She is lethargic, responding to painful sternal stimuli. I have stabilized her neck. Left pupil is blown and dilated, the right is fixed and dilated. Possible depressed skull fracture to the parietal lobe. Pink fluid is present in the auditory canal. Glasgow is three. I need gauze for the Right Posterior Tibial Artery, it is exposed and bleeding profusely. Probable broken right Radius. Probable Hemopneumothorax. Abdomen is ridged. Hold for Vitals."

As Jay drove up towards the chaotic scene, he seen his future slowly deteriorating before him as he seen the state of her car. At first he was unable to believe that it was her, the only thing that told him that it was, was the license plate staring back at him. He quickly threw the drive stick into park and jumped out of the car, parking beside Truck 81.

"Erin? Oh my god! Is she ok? Is she alive? Why are you not getting her out?!" he said as he ran up to what remained of the mangled car, his heart dropped, thinking the worse.

"Halstead? You sure it's Lindsay in there?" Casey asked the distraught Detective, pushing him in the shoulder, backing him away from the accident.

"Yes! I was on the phone with her when I heard the crash so I called dispatch and got a twenty on the most recent accident. I heard your sirens on the phone in the background which confirmed that it was a M.V.A so I got down here as fast as I could." The Detective told the Lieutenant.

"Ok.. Ok. Well Dawson is in the vehicle so let me make contact with her; candidate report on the victim?" he asked as he spoke into the radio coming over his shoulder.

"Just got ringers lactate started, but she is currently unconscious and stable for now." Dawson reported, with a hint of urgency in her voice.

"See? We have her out in no time. Now, I need you to stay back here and let me do my job, ok?"

Jay nodded his head as he took a deep breath in and leaned back up against a fire truck, closing his eyes and resting his head. And with that the Lieutenant ran back over to the organized chaos.

"Alright, how's it looking?" he asked no one in particular over the sound of the Jaws of Life crushing metal, as he threw his gloves back on.

"We need to get her out, it's likely she has a head injury and probable internal bleeding, also her vitals are dangerously low." Brett reported.

"We have gotten five of the six beams of the roof broken, as soon as we cut the last one we are good to go. Are we sure it's Erin in there?" Severide asked.

"99% sure. Her boyfri- partner just arrived on scene, explained, implied, and confirmed."

"Lets get this moving a little faster!" Kelly yelled over the commotion.

"Severide, I know that you and Erin have a past, but that's that, the past. Now is definitely not the time to have a pissing match to show who is the better man with the bigger set of balls."

"I know, I just-"

"Alright! Severide, Casey, we're good to go!" Cruz yelled as he shut the lifesaving machinery off.

"Alright men, let's move!"

They all went to the sides where they were directed to earlier, and proceeded to lift the roof off the car, placing it on the ground.

"Ok, I need the backboard and someone's help." Dawson directed to no one in particular, as they uncovered her and Erin from the fabric sheeting that was protecting them from the flying sparks as they cut the steel covering above them. Casey handed her the backboard as he jumped into the car. "Ok, Casey, I need you to keep her head stable, Severide,' she spoke to the man behind her "I need you to keep a hold on her feet, I will watch her abdomen as we move the board behind her, she may have a spinal injury due to MOI. Let's get her boarded and stabilized, we do not need to take any chances of causing more injuries. On three we will move." she finished as she handed the IV line and a bag of ringers and lidocaine to Capp. Dawson then counted to three, and they moved in sync to get her onto the backboard, strapping her in, and slowly moving her out of the car and onto the waiting stretcher. Brett and Chilly quickly unfolded the spider straps Sylvie had in her hands, placing and securing them over Erins body to prevent any other unknown injuries.

"Erin.." Jay said as he controlled his emotions, running over, lightly running his hand over her arm.

"We gotta get her to Chicago Med now Halstead, you can ride in the back of the ambo." Dawson told him as they began to wheel her away.

"Wait a second. What was her last set of vitals?" Brett asked as they brought the stretcher to a halt and she moved her stethoscope around Erins chest.

"BP: 80/40 Pulse: 60 and thready; Respiration: 7." Dawson spat out.

"I need a chest tube and O2, I am not getting any breath sounds in the right lung," she told her partner as they reached the waiting ambulance.

Chilly quickly jerked open her jump bag and handed off a ready chest kit.

She quickly cut the fabric of Erin's shirt, and dowsed her right side in antiseptic.

"What are you doing?" Jay asked concerned.

"I am having… to… insert this tube… into her chest… as it seems that we were right about the Hemopneumothorax.." Sylvie explained as she cut a slit just below her breast, before inserting the chest tube.

"What does that m-"

Before Jay could finish, the chest tube worked and was inserted properly, causing blood and air to come out of the small plastic tube, staining the pavement below.

"It means that her lung has collapsed and that there was blood as well as air in said lung." Dawson explained, as they loaded her into the ambulance and hooked her up to the EKG.

"I thought you said she was ok Gabby!?" Jay shouted in her face.

"Hey! Listen, we need to get going NOW." Brett said, grabbing their attention, breaking up the brewing argument.

Jay quickly understood, jumping into the back with Brett and shut the doors. Chilly and Dawson hopped into the cab.

They were making their way down the dark streets of Chicago, Brett reporting into the Chicago Med ER on their incoming trauma, Jay sitting next to Erin holding her bloodstain hand.

"Please don't die. I don't know what I would do without you." He told the unconscious woman before bringing her hand up to his lips, but just as fast as the romantic moment began it ended.

"Starting chest compressions! She's coding!" he heard the paramedic yell over the continuous beep ringing in his ears.

"We are a little over five away from Chicago!" Chilly yelled from the front. "Do I need to pull over?"

"NO! If you pull over. She won't make it." Brett instructed as she pressed her hands rhythmically against Erins lifeless chest. One Hundred compressions a minute.

Jay sat there, feeling helpless as he watched before his eyes the love of his life dying, a stray tear streaming down his cheek.

"Pull it together Detective!' he heard Brett yell at him 'I need your help."

"I… I don't know what I could do, if anything."

"You can and you will." She told him in confidence. At that moment, he could hear Erin's voice in the back of his head, busting his balls if she could see him right now. And with that he pulled it together, because he would do anything to hear that raspy voice and see those emerald green eyes again.

"What do you need from me?"

"I need you to do compressions while I get the AED and ventilate, got it?"

He quickly stood, taking over compressions. No more than thirty seconds later, the AED was charged and ready.

"Charged. Ready. Stop Compressions. Clear!" Brett commanded as the machine shocked Erin's body.

"No Change. Begin Compressions." She said pressing the button to recharge the device and began carefully inserting a ventilation tube down Erin's trachea, attaching a bag to the end, as the back doors flew open.

"Charged. Ready. Stop Compressions. Clear!" she commanded once more, as she clasped the bag, the oxygen filling Erin's lungs.

"No Change. Begin Compressions." She said again as she went out the side door, working her way around Jay, Chilly coming to take over bagging Erin.

"Jay stop compressions as we get her out, then hop onto the bar before beginning compressions again." She told the detective before her, as she unlocked the stretcher.

He did as he was told, and immediately began pressing against her chest as they were wheeled into the Emergency Room.

"Thirty year old female, non-restrained victim in a car accident. Car rolled approximately five time before coming to a stop on its wheels. Extrication took forty minutes. She was found at a 145 degree angle on the floor board. She was Lethargic, responding to Painful Sternal Stimuli. Left Pupil is blown and dilated, the right is fixed and dilated. Possible Depressed Skull Fracture to the Parietal Lobe. Pink fluid is present in the auditory canal. Glasgow was three. We applied pressure and gauze to the Right Posterior Tibial Artery, it was bleeding profusely. Probable broken Radius. Definite Hemopneumothorax we inserted a chest tube in the field, and cleared the obstruction. Abdomen is ridged. She has been coding for approximately five minutes, we bagged her on the way in." Brett told the people moving around them as they wheeled them into a trauma bay.

"Ok, lets get a crash cart in here!" Jay heard a familiar voice directing orders as the tool box with the lifesaving device on top was wheeled into the bay. "Ok, let's clear the area, charge to 300. Stop compressions. Clear!" he shouted as everyone removed their hands from Erin's body.

"We have a pulse!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Guys! As always, thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites they always make my gloomy days better:) Much love until next week!**

 **S/N: Can I just say I freakin' love Derek Haas right now with all the Linstead Season 3 teasers he has been giving us! 3**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD nor any of its characters.**

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"Jay, thought we agreed never to meet like this." The middle-aged doctor said as he began assessing Erin and her injuries.

"Yeah, well what can I say, Lindsay here had other plans Alec." He dryly laughed, rubbing a dried bloody palm over his face as he talked to the old friend, before walking out of the trauma bay and towards a waiting room.

Doctor Willhite finished his assessment, ordering multiple and different types of scans and bloodwork, punching it in on the computer tablet in his hand before giving instructions to the interns and nurses.

"Well we will know more after the X-Ray, CT, and MRI scans but for right now I will tell you that she is lucky to be alive." Alec told Jay as he walked into a waiting room.

"What are we looking at?"

"Right now, I am not sure, we have her stabilized, and she is facing surgery to correct the possible skull fracture, it's hard to say if she needs surgery for any internal injuries, we won't know until we get the scans back."

Jay let out a sigh, unable to respond.

"I know that you are just her partner but, do you happen to know if she is on any medications?"

"No, not that I know of. She just got out of rehab earlier today, actually." Jay told him as he ran a hand over his exhausted face.

"Ok, well I am going put in a request for her charts and I will do everything in my power to get her back to intelligence, as you guys tried with Jules." He told Jay as he stood, placing a hand on his shoulder before walking out the door.

No more than five minutes after Alec had left, Jay began hearing mass chaos storming down the hall.

"Where is she? What the hell happened! Damn It! Someone tell me!" the gruff voice screamed at the nurses station.

"Voight." Jay said raspily as he stepped out from behind the half wall of the waiting area.

"What the hell Halstead? What are you doing here? How are you here before me?" Voight continued to yell as he stormed over.

"She was upset, ran a red light, the car rolled, she was entrapped, fifty-one rescued her, she died on the way in here, but was resuscitated." Jay told him plain as day, avoiding his questions and all the small details.

"Wha.. What are.. Is she gonna make it? What's her injuries?" Voight asked, composing himself and attempting to straighten out the mess of thoughts running through his head.

"Alec just came by and told me they will not know more until all the scans come back, but, the initial injuries are a possible depressed skull fracture, broken arm, a collapsed lung and probable internal bleeding. She is upstairs getting scans right now to tell us more, Alec said she will need surgery to fix her skull."

Voight placed a hand on his jaw, and stood there in the cubicle like waiting room, taking it all in, before he nodded and walked away without saying a word. Jay sat down in an uncomfortable green chair and placed his head in-between his arms, which were placed on his knees.

"Jay, what the hell man." He heard his brother say as he ran into the small waiting cubicle.

Jay couldn't help but laugh as he slowly raised his head. "Rachel answered the door."

"What?" Will asked confused.

"She thought that me and Rachel were.."

"Ohhh. Ok." Will realized as he sat down next to his brother.

"And she ran away. I was on the phone with her when she ran the red light. This is my fault. I killed the woman I love." He admitted as he dropped his head, letting a tear fall.

Will placed a hand on his brothers knee, "Bro, it's not your fault, you have no reason to beat yourself up, accidents happen. Now, I am gonna go and see what is going on and bring you back an update ok? So then we can get her back to one piece, so that way I can crash hers and yours future wedding, ok? Ok." Will said in encouragement, before walking away.

Jay pulled a hand over his face once more, before bringing it down and settling both of his hands in his lap, catching sight of the dried crimson blood that caked them both, the blood had dried into the wrinkles and pores of his hands, somewhat permeantly staining them. He ran a finger over the dried blood, small flakes began coming off. ' _She's Coding_!' he could still hear Brett yell, the words forever etched into his memory, the events that followed replaying as if on a permeant repeat. His hands pounding against her chest, ' _one, two, three, come on Erin! You can't do this… eleven, twelve, thirteen, I need you please, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, what about our promise, huh? You don't make promises you can't keep twenty-nine, thirty,'_ the flashback of his silent thought was interrupted by the stampede of shoes running down the hall towards the waiting area, he quickly pulled his emotions together.

"Halstead, man what happened?" he heard Ruzek ask as he tried to catch his breath, jogging into view.

"Long story short, Car Accident, she lived, she died, she lived, and now we wait."

"How bad?" he heard the small voice of Kim Burgess ask.

There was no need for him to respond, you could see the damage on his exhausted face, his hands and clothes stained in blood.

"Where's Voight?" asked Antonio, looking around the room.

"He was here and then left, so I don't know. Alec told me about an hour ago that they were doing some scans, and he would be back with an update, and Will went about thirty minutes ago to go check on said update, so for right now it's a waiting game."

And with that they all slowly sat down, Atwater, Roman, and Mouse coming in a few minutes later. Ruzek could not stand to bear it he had to ask the question bugging him.

"When did she get back?"

"Today, I assume, I just talked to her yesterday at the clinic and she said nothing about getting released." Jay said as he leaned back into his chair.

"Well, do they know how the accident happened?" Dawson questioned.

"She ran a red light."

"Her? Run a red light? Come on, we all know that Lindsay is like the safest driver around unless we are in pursuit!" Ruzek said, not accepting Jays answer.

"Listen, I-" he began to say before seeing some of the people from house fifty-one walking down the hallway towards them. "Listen, Gabby, thank you so much I-" he started in, before being interrupted.

"Can I talk to you in the hallway for a sec?" Gabby asked.

"Umm, yeah, sure."

The two made their way into the hallway, walking away from the crowd in the waiting room.

"What do you wanna talk about?" Jay asked, his mind running in a million directions.

"She came to, for a few in the car."

"What! Was she ok? Was she in pain? Did she say anything?" Jay asked, his mouth running a mile a minute.

"Woah, slow down Halstead. She was ok, we had her heavily medicated so she couldn't really feel her injuries, but she was aware enough to remember what had happened."

"Ok?"

"I began asking her generic questions, how she was feeling, what hurt, and if she remembered how it had happened."

Jay stood captivated, as he listened to the former paramedic.

"She felt as though, if today was her last day, you deserve to know that she understands if you moved on, that you deserved it, she felt as though over the past ten months, the two of you had grown closer and maybe she was wrong. But sometimes just because you think you have moved on, your heart doesn't think the same. She wanted you to know she was headed to your place to make good on a promise?"

"Seriously?" he wryly laughed.

"Seriously."

"I… I don't know what to say." Jay said as he pulled Gabby into a hug.

"Hey, don't get all emotional on me, she is going to be fine. Now, if I had a hot piece of ass like that chasing me like you do, I would be praying to the high heavens for her to live." A confused Gabby laughed as she ruined the moment.

"Thanks?" Jay said, unsure of how to respond to the comment coming from his ex-girlfriend.

"You're welcome, now pull it together because here comes Alec." She said as they turned around.

"Ok. So she does have the depressed skull fracture, as we already knew, and she does have internal bleeding, she is on her way up to surgery now, I am headed up myself after I finish talking, I have Dr. Armada, coming in to handle her internal injuries with Will assisting and I will be handling the neuro side of things. We won't know anything else until we get in there."

"Thanks Alec." He said as they walked away, running into Voight and Olinsky who was stepping off the elevator.

"What did he say?" Voight stopped Jay noticing Alec walking away, as Gabby returned to the waiting room.

"They are taking her up to surgery to fix her skull and repair the internal injuries, they will not know more until they get in there." Jay told Voight and Olinsky as they walked towards the waiting room.

They took seats and began impatiently waiting. It had felt like hours, most of the people that had come in support, leaving. When only the members of Intelligence was left, they moved upstairs to the surgical waiting room. Jay finally got the nerve to wash off his hands and asked Adam for a spare t-shirt out of his car. After waiting another hour Jay began to study the team sitting around the room, Mouse had left, Burgess was passed out on Ruzeks shoulder, Atwater and Roman were playing on their phones, Voight and Olinsky had left once again and Antonio was trying his best not to kill Halstead who would not stay still, if he was not pacing he was bouncing his leg, the kid had very little patience. Dawson was about to speak up and tell Jay to stop once again, but was interrupted by the angry growl coming from their boss who had just come storming through the door, causing everyone jump.

"Halstead! This is all your fault!" Voight yelled as he pulled his fist back, Olinsky quickly pulling it down.

"Voight I-"

"You what? You didn't think that I wouldn't go to the impound yard and search her car? That I wouldn't find her cell phone? The phone that just so happened to have your number as the last call, which coincides with the time of the accident?" Voight yelled, pushing a finger into Jay's chest continuously, causing him to back into the wall.

"She-"

"I told you! I told both of you to keep it in your pants or transfer out of the unit if you want to play house, neither of you could listen and now look where it has gotten us! Her, lying practically dead, in the hospital Halstead!" The room fell silent, everyone in it besides the two causing the scene, seemingly in shock of the news being brought to light.

"No, you cannot-.' Jay started out speaking silently, now it was his turn 'You told us, yes, and we obeyed your rules until she got the job with the task force, but then she decided to end it out of respect for you. I was willing to come clean, Voight, but there is no point in holding a grudge over something that happened over a year ago. Before she went to rehab we made a promise and last night she came over and seen things that caused her to get the wrong impression. Yes, I was on the phone with her when the accident happened, she was telling me about her return and we were just talking. So you have NO right to jump down my throat with both feet until you know the whole story. Ok?!" Jay yelled in Voight's face before making his way to the stairs, quickly going down the fourteen flights before walking out the doors to his car, which one of the firefighters had brought to the hospital.

He had been sitting there for about thirty minutes, letting the stirred-up dust settle between him and Voight before he re-entered the building, when he received a text from Will _"she's out of surgery, in the ICU, room 1513, if you want to see her, will meet you up here."_ Jay quickly got out of his car, and made it up to the fifteenth floor, running into Voight as he stepped off the elevator.

"Listen Halstead, I just want to-"

"Voight, don't sweat it, we were both just looking after Erin and now it's water under the bridge, all that matters is Lindsay."

Voight threw his hand out in front of him, not saying a word.

Jay shook his bosses hand, before they both walked into the small room.

In the center of the room, back up against the right-hand wall, was a hospital bed, on either side tables, on the left side a reclining chair with a window behind it, and directly across the room was a small sink and vanity, with the bathroom in the back left-hand corner. But, the room didn't matter, the only thing that mattered was the small, fragile, pale figure lying in the bed. Her head was heavily bandage with little pieces of dirty blonde hair sticking out in random places, her right hand was in a hard black cast, the rest of her body covered but they could only assume that the rest of her body was just as covered in the thick gauze. She looked somewhat peaceful aside from the scratches and bruises that lined the visible skin, a breathing tube running down her trachea pumping Oxygen into her sedated body, the sound of the heart monitor beeping emitting the sound of her heartbeat, relieving them that she is alive.

Jay let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding and Voight stood there taking it all in, the familiarity of the hospital rubbing him the wrong way. Voight sat down next to the bed, Halstead in the window as they waited for something, whether it be her wake-up or someone come in to talk to them. The sound of footsteps after waiting for what seemed like days -which had only been thirty minutes- pulled them out of their thoughts.

"Let me guess, Jay, you were counting heart beats, and Voight you were talking to her in your head, correct?" Will guessed as he walked into the room with an older man.

"Shut It." Jay told his older brother, speaking what was on both the men's minds.

"Fine, Dr. Armada, this is my brother Detective Jay Halstead and their boss Sargent Hank Voight." Will introduced.

"How is she?" asked Voight, the same words fixing to leave Halsteads mouth.

"It seems as though Miss Lindsay is very lucky, she had a depressed skull fracture which we repaired with two plates and six screws; a broken right radius which we set and casted; her internal injuries were sustained to the liver, kidneys and lung, which we repaired; she also has several bruised ribs; we also stiched her skin on her right thigh. Oh and as you can see she has multiple cuts, scrapes, and bruises."

"When can we expect her to wake-up?" Jay asked.

"We currently have her in a medically induced coma, to allow her body time to heal. We will start weaning her off sedation here in a few hours, the process will take a few days."

"What's Recovery time looking like?" Voight questioned.

"I want to make sure that there will be no complications but once she gets released she will need to stay with someone for a few days, until she can safely get back on her feet, I then will need to see her twice a month for six months for a CT scan to check on progress. She will be able to return to desk work after six months, and pending my approval she can return to active duty in a year."

"Yeah, she's not going to like that.." Jay thought out loud.

Voight chuckled, "You're telling me, she just got reinstated last night."

"Well, she is more than welcome to spend her time at a gun range, but I will not clear her until I see her fit for duty." Dr. Armada told them both.

"Thank You Doctor." They told the man before he walked out the door.

"Listen, visiting hours are over but I might be able to pull a few strings for you guys, just page me if anything changes."

"Thanks Will." Jay said as he gave his brother a hug.

"No need to thank me, you are the one that saved her life Jay." Will said before walking out of the room.

Voight stood there with questioning eyes, staring Jay down.

"It's a good thing that they require us to take CPR every two years boss." Jay stated as he returned to sit on the air conditioning unit in the window.

"Listen, I have got to go home, anything happens call me, if you don't you will find yourself in the bottom of the canal." Voight said, walking out of the room.

With that Jay got up and moved to the semi-comfortable chair, ' _at least it's cushioned_ ' he thought to himself as he got comfortable.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey Guys! Hope everyone is having a good weekend! Here is a new chapter, enjoy! :)**

 **S/N: Words cannot begin to describe how excited I am that Fire, Med, and PD starts filming again this week!**

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 _"_ _Listen, I have got to go home, anything happens call me, if you don't you will find yourself in the bottom of the canal." Voight said, walking out of the room._

 _With that Jay got up and moved to the semi-comfortable chair, 'at least it's cushioned' he thought to himself as he got comfortable._

He sat at Erins bedside, lost in his own train of thought, when an older nurse walked in.

"You know you can touch her, right? You will not hurt her." The nurse said as she checked Erin's vitals.

"Oh, I.. I actually didn't know."

"It's ok,' laughed the nurse as she inserted a vial of something into her IV 'most people don't. Oh! My name is Jessica by the way, I will be Ms. Lindsay's nurse for the night."

"Jay, Jay Halstead." He told her, putting his hand out.

"Well, Mr. Halstead, until Ms. Lindsay here wakes up, if you need anything you can press this button right here for the nurses station, and attached to this cord is the remote and speaker for the TV. Me or another nurse is just down the hall, and someone will be coming in periodically to check vitals and administer meds."

"Thank You."

"No problem, it's all a part of the job, now if you get really brave you can talk to her, she won't respond but you can always hope." The nurse finished saying as she moved across the hall, to the next patient.

Jay turned on the television, turning it on to SportsCenter staring at it blankly, listening to the rhythmic beeping of Erin's heartbeat as it was emitted throughout the room. He got to thinking about what the nurse said, and turned, taking Erin's hand into his, intertwining their fingers and he soon thereafter found himself dozing off.

 **The Next Morning...**

"Awww. Look, I mean seriously guys, we're detectives, how could we have missed that?" Ruzek asked as him, Antonio, and Atwater stood outside the hospital room.

"I don't know, but they pulled it off, I guess going undercover as a couple a lot helped." Atwater spoke.

"Listen, I think what happens in their personal time is their business." Antonio voiced his opinion.

"You knew?" Ruzek questioned.

"Well, someone had to try and keep Voight away so that job was left for me and Nads, and it worked for almost three months. They were both happy, like genuinely happy, that was until they got a little to reckless and Voight picked up the scent, it wasn't but two days later when they called it off. I just hope they will be a little more careful this time." Atwater and Ruzek looked at Antonio, blank stares on their faces.

"What?" Dawson questioned.

"Wow, I never thought of you to be so… meticulous." Ruzek voiced.

"Lots of undercover cover work baby." Dawson said proudly.

"Don't ever call me baby again." Ruzek told him shaking his head, as they walked into the small room.

Erin was still sedated and stable, Jay was sound asleep, his hand entangled with hers, his head laying on the bed.

They tried to enter the room quietly but ultimately failed, Jays supersonic hearing that he inherited as a Ranger in Afghanistan, coming into play.

"Good Morning sleeping beauty." Ruzek joked as he leaned against the counter.

"Ha. Ha. Very Funny." Jay retorted as he popped his back and stretched his muscles.

"How is she? How are you?" Antonio asked as the father figure in the group.

"She is doing ok, they are slowly taking her off sedation, should be completely off and hopefully awake in a day or two. They wanted to keep her under for her to heal. I am.. I am doing ok." Jay said as he tried to wake himself up, looking around for a clock.

' _Damn It! My watch is at the house, I am lucky to have even remembered my gun and badge.'_ He mentally chastised himself, before he seen the clock over the door. _10:54_

"Shit!" he cursed as he quickly stood.

"Where's the fire Halstead?" Dawson asked, as they all looked on amused.

"I'm late for work, and Voight is going to kill me."

All three men, busted out laughing.

"Dude, relax. You're not late for work, when you didn't show, Voight expected it and so he sent us by to check on you guys as we headed out to check on a lead. He told us to tell you to stay with Lindsay, that she is the main priority of this unit."

Jay let out a sigh of relief.

"But I cannot make any promises about him not killing you." laughed Dawson.

"Thanks." Jay told him as he glared to Antonio.

"Listen, we have a few minutes to spare, why don't we go get some coffee, Antonio will stay with Erin." Ruzek asked as him and Atwater pushed Jay out the door, not allowing him to decline the offer.

Antonio felt alone and bored not long after they had left, so he did what he had seen on what little television he had watched over the past couple of years.

"Hey, Er. I know you can't hear me, but I know that they say talking to people in the hospital helps. Do you remember one of our first cases together? Man, what I wouldn't give to be back there. Just you, me, Al, Jules, Voight, and the new kid, Jay. I remember one of the times we had training, we had to clear a house, it was me and Jules in the back, you and Halstead took the front, Voight and Al were the bad guys; So the siren sounded, the lights dimmed, me and Jules bust in the back, clearing left and right, when we came upon the last room, I think it was the living room, there was you and Halstead in the center of the room, with a gun pointed at the other, demanding that the other one drop their weapon, and that was when you both pulled the trigger, the other unsure of where the paintball coming towards them was headed until you heard the fall behind you. As it turned out, Voight was standing behind you, and Olinsky behind Halstead, and you and Jay shot at each other to take out the targets, that was when I knew you were good police." Antonio recalled the fond memory, wiping a stray tear from his eye.

"So, if you can hear me, I need you covering my ass. Voight needs you, well because he is Voight, you are practically the man's daughter. Olinsky is practically family to you family too, hell, all of us. Ruzek needs you because who else will give him a hard time about everything? Atwater, well Atwater needs someone to learn from, and that person is you. Burgess is going to need a bridesmaid for her and Ruzek's wedding, you know they planned not to have it until you got back? Roman, well I think Roman helped save you from Bunny. Which lastly brings me to Halstead. Do you know how many temporary partners he went through after you quit? Eight. Eight people. Voight finally gave up and let him work alone. You know he will never admit this but every time I have looked up from my paperwork over the past eleven months I would catch him staring at your desk, and after a few minutes the biggest and dorkyist smile would appear on his face. I made fun of him a couple of times because of it, but you are that man's world. If me and Nads had been able to keep Voight away I would say you guys would be engaged by now. When Nadia told me that something had apparently happened between you and Jay, I blamed myself for not being able to keep him away for any longer than we did, but it was your fault, you guys were getting reckless." Antonio finished, as he realized he found himself rambling.

"But, as soon as you get the chance to wake-up take it, because I am tired of looking at the love-sick puppy." Antonio laughed.

Ten minutes later Adam, Kevin, and Jay returned, Jay looking refreshed and relaxed, they said their goodbyes, the boys promising to return after shift. And Jay found himself sitting in the green chair once again. Alone.

He turned the volume up on the TV, initially as background noise, a baseball game of the Chicago Cubs versus the Atlanta Braves. Chicago was down four to five in the top of the ninth, and Jay found himself hoping that David Ross would steal third, and that Dexter Fowler would hit a fly ball out into center field, but his hopes were soon crushed by the double play that Jace Peterson and Freddie Freeman impressively preformed.

' _I miss baseball.'_ He thought to himself as he realized this was the first game he had caught all season. It used to be he would never miss a game, but then again he was a pitcher, and he did have one of the best arms on the team, but he gave it all up to fight for his country.

Jay did not realize how long he had been lost in his thoughts nor how long he had been sitting there again, when he felt the massive cramp in his calf muscle he figured he needed to move around. He got up and moved to the window, down onto the city of seemingly unaware people below. Unaware of what life had in store and where it would take them.

"You know, I don't know if you knew this or not but, I played baseball in high school, and football, and ran track. I guess I was one of 'those guys'. I never thought myself to become a cop, I always thought I would follow in my father's footsteps and become a doctor, but then one day he decided to up and leave us, leaving my mom to support me and Will. Will was off at college, partying day and night, he didn't care, but to see the hurt on my mom's face… Anyways, I had a full ride to practically any school I wanted and I was actually drafted to the minors, but then I woke-up one clear, fall day in 2001, and little did I know by the end of the day, my life would change drastically. I guess you can say the patriotic side came out, just like it did millions of other men and women that day. So there you have it, the reason as to why I joined the army." He told her as he paced the room, sitting back down as he finished telling the story.

Over the next few hours, Jay began telling Erin stories from his Childhood, for instance the time he broke his arm learning to ride a bike; or about the first girl he kissed, Melissa Patterson, in kindergarten and got kicked in the balls afterwards; about the time he almost got arrested for underage drinking at a party; the time he totaled his first car, a 1967 Chevy Camaro, because he tried to fly through the air using a dirt ramp, like they do in the movies.

"So, as I was flying over these hurdles, my legs aching, I was about fifteen feet from the finish line and I suddenly begin humming 'Eye of the Tiger' really loudly, apparently I thought I was Rocky Balboa or something, because as soon as I crossed that finish line-"he was telling his sedated partner.

"Good evening Mr. Halstead. How is she tonight?" Nurse Jessica asked as she walked in doing her normal routine.

"Evening Jessica, she is doing fine, no change, they did remove the breathing tube, which I guess is a good thing."

"Yes, it's very good, she's breathing on her own so she should be awake this time tomorrow." She told him as she inserted medications into the IV line.

"Really? That's awesome!" he said hopefully.

"It is isn't it? Well, I best be getting on to my other patients." She said as she walked out the door.

"Oh, wait Jess! Thank you for suggesting I talk to her, it has helped a lot." Jay told the older nurse, as he ran to the door to meet the woman.

"You're Welcome." She said as she walked away.

"so anyways, as I was crossing the finish line..." Jay continued telling some of his greatest memories and moments as he sat back down grabbing Erins hand and intertwining their fingers.

"and that is how I got dumped at my senior prom in front of the entire junior and senior class. " Jay finished telling as he felt his eyelids growing heavier, the sound of the rhythmic beeping throughout the room, lulling him to sleep.

The next few days seemed to pass by at the speed of light, the team had a new case on the desks allowing for little visitation time, trying to come by before or after shift. Jay's brother coming by when he could. None of Erin's family was notified of what had happened, she did not need that mess back in her life. Erin was completely off the sedation medicine, but was still not awake, the doctors saying ' _she will wake-up in her own time.'_ Yeah, ok, that was three days ago.

The nurses were threatening to ban Jay from the hospital saying that ' _his smell was compromising to the healing of the patients_ ' until his brother took pity and snuck him into the hospital staff showers.

"Thank you for bringing me a change of clothes and for sneaking me into the doctor's showers, and for feeding me and for caring about me in general." Jay joked with Will as they headed back down towards Erin's hospital room. As Jay walked in, he was unable to believe what his eyes were seeing.

"What the hell?!" he voiced loudly as he noticed the new bracelet around his partners wrist attached to the bed railing.

"Detective Jay Halstead of Intelligence I presume? I am Detective Mark Sullivan with Narcotics, I suppose you are wondering as to what I am doing here? Well, I have been sent an anonymous surveillance video and circumstantial evidence of Miss Erin Lindsay, of her distributing and selling narcotics to an undercover federal agent, as well as attempted first degree murder and kidnapping."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! So glad y'all liked the last chapter and I hope that this chapter does not disappoint! As always thank you for all the reviews/faves/follows! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD nor any of its characters...**

* * *

 _"_ _Detective Jay Halstead of Intelligence I presume? I am Detective Mark Sullivan with Narcotics, I suppose you are wondering as to what I am doing here? Well, I have been sent an anonymous surveillance video and circumstantial evidence of Miss Erin Lindsay, of her distributing and selling narcotics to an undercover federal agent, as well as attempted first degree murder and kidnapping."_

"You have got to be kidding me? This is a joke right?" Jay asked as the man flashed his credentials which was hiding behind his jacket "When? Who?"

"I can tell you the when but not who as the investigation is still ongoing, the dates are within the past eight months."

"You really need to do your research detective, or else you would have known that she has been in Iowa in rehab for the past eleven months." Jay began laughing in the mans face.

"That may be, but I do have circumstantial evidence showing that Ms. Lindsay-" the greenhorn of a cop began.

"First of all, it's Detective Lindsay, not Miss Lindsay. Secondly, she's fucking unconscious! What is the purpose of handcuffing her?"

"I-" the man started

"You what? You don't have a clue do you?" Jay said, trying not to yell to avoid keeping the nurses on his bad side. "Remove the handcuffs."

"I'm sorry but-"

"If you won't, I will." Jay said as he got in the detectives face, shoving a finger into his chest.

"And if you do not remove your finger off of me, I will arrest you for assault de-tect-ive." The snide man quickly fired back.

Jay slowly removed his finger from the man's chest, keeping his face so close to Detective Sullivan's that Jay could still smell the garlic of cheese fries on the young man's breath.

"That's what I thought." The man greedily said.

"Listen, you need to go back and get your facts straight before you EVER step foot back into this hospital. Do I make myself clear?" Jay said pointedly as he removed the handcuffs from his partners' cataleptic hand with his own keys, throwing the metal restraints at the mans face.

"Oh, I will be back Detective." Sullivan said as he caught the handcuffs, before walking out the door.

"I will count on it, and you can count on me and my people." Jay said quietly with a smile on his face as he pulled out his phone.

"Voight, hey, you might want to get down here, we have a problem…" Jay spoke through the phone as he ran a hand through his muddled hair.

No more than ten minutes later, a worried Hank Voight came speed walking into the small hospital room. The worried look on his face soon leaving as he seen that his pseudo-daughter was still in the same condition that she had been in for the past four days.

"What is it Halstead?"

"Erin was arrested. I stepped out to take a shower before I got banned from the place and when I came back a greenhorn from Narcotics was in here chaining her down to the bed."

"Under what circumstances?"

"The selling and distribution of narcotics to an undercover federal agent and attempted first degree murder and kidnapping."

Voight rolled his eyes and placed a hand on his jaw, going into a deep thought.

"But wait, here's the kicker, he claims that this all happened within the past eight months."

Voight let out a slight chuckle, ' _damn rookie is trying to get his first big case_ ' he thought to himself.

"What are we gonna do Voight?" Jay asked as he paced what little room there was.

"We are not going to anything, the damn rookie doesn't know who he is messing with. You are going to stay here and let me handle this."

Jay nodded his head, knowing that Voight has his way and connections, this was one of the few times he was more than willing to turn his head.

Voight accepted what he assumed was Jays acknowledgement and walked out the door.

* * *

Voight headed back to the precinct, making his way upstairs, as he reached the top, he seen the members of his unit trying to wrap up the case that they were rudely handed by the Gangs Unit.

Voight attempted to walk back to his office quietly, trying not to disturb so he would not be pestered with a mountain of questions, but he ultimately failed.

"Hey boss, any news? Is she awake?" Ruzek asked as he looked up from the pile of paperwork, the other members quickly raising their heads to see their boss.

He thought about what route he could take, he could just tell them that she had not woken up but that they needed him to sign some stuff, since Halstead has no relation to Erin or he could tell them the truth.

"She's still the same." Voight said with disappointment, hoping that they would drop the conversation.

"Well then why did Halstead call you down there for?" Antonio asked joining in.

"It seems as though we have a problem, some greenhorn down in Narcotics is wanting to gain rank and earn a set of balls, and is investigating Erin for the selling and distribution of narcotics to an undercover federal agent and attempted first degree murder and kidnapping." Voight said as he stepped to the front of the room.

The room full of detectives had a look of shock and amusement on their faces, before they busted out into a fit of laughter.

"You're kidding right? Who does this kid think he is?" Antonio said attempting to regain control over his emotions. "Let me make a few calls to some old buddies and I will try an find out what this guys agenda is."

"Well, there is something else, according to Mr. Mark Sullivan, this all took place eight months ago."

"That's not possible, I mean does this guy even do his homework? How could she be here, Chicago and in Iowa at the same time?" Atwater voiced.

"You're telling me, the kid's got guts I will give him that. So, since we have just about wrapped this case up, I want me, Al and Dawson to work on this Lindsay thing, and the rest of you to finish up your paper work on this case." Voight said as he walked into his office.

He sat down behind his wooden desk, ' _Where do I start?_ ' he thought to himself, letting out a sigh as he picked up the phone, _'might as well start with the head of the department..'_ he decided as he punched in the number.

"Sargent O'Malley speaking." He heard a coarse voiced man say on the other side.

"O'Malley, this is Voight over at the 21st."

"Hank, long time no speak, last time we spoke Regan was in office." The man said laughing.

"Very funny O'Malley, it just so happened we spoke when the first Bush was in office." Voight joked back.

"Well, I know you did not call to exchange pleasantries and get caught up in life, what can I help the Intelligence unit with?"

"Well, it seems as though one of your rookies has arrested my daughter."

"Which one of my boys would that be?"

"Sullivan."

"Ahh, yes. He… he is quite the… beginner, eager to prove himself. I didn't even know you had a daughter Hank, what's her name?"

"Lindsay. Detective Erin Lindsay, she's not my biological daughter, it's a long story. But it seems as though your detective needs to learn how to do his background checks, because she has not even been in Chicago let alone the state of Illinois within the past eight months."

"Did you say Detective Erin Lindsay? I thought she quit over a year ago."

"She took a leave of absence, and went to Iowa eleven months ago, she returned four days ago, was reinstated and got into a severe car accident, is currently unconscious, and Detective Sullivan felt the need to handcuff her to the bed. Now, you tell me how she could be accused of such ludicrous acts that happened eight months ago when she has been gone for eleven months?"

"Let me get back to you Hank, and I will find out what I know." The other man said before hanging up the phone.

"Yeah, you will get back to me all right…" Voight said aloud, knowing that it was highly unlikely that he would be hearing back. His thoughts was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, boss. I just got off the phone with a buddy of mine that works over in Narc. He said this Sullivan guy –you aren't going to believe this- he wants to get into Intelligence." Dawson informed his boss.

"Really now. Did he say why?"

"Nope. Not a clue."

"Well, lets go see what this idiot wants." Voight said as he grabbed his jacket off the back of his leather chair. "Where can we find Mr. Sullivan?"

* * *

It did not take long to find the rookie, he was eating lunch at his favorite burger joint.

Voight and Dawson made it to the diner, just as Sullivan had gotten his food and was scrolling through his phone. They quietly snuck in, sliding into the booth across, Sullivan none the wiser until Voight cleared his throat.

"Shit!" the man yelled attempting to not choke on his food, as he dropped his burger to the plate.

"Mark Sullivan, Detective Mark Sullivan correct?" Dawson asked.

"Speaking, barely, and you are?"

"This is Sargent Voight, I am Detective Dawson from over at the twenty-first, Intelligence Unit."

"Oh my God! I am so sorry! It is a pleasure to meet you." The young man acknowledge as he wiped his greasy palms on his suit pants before extending it over the table.

"I would say likewise, but you are currently at the top of my hatred list." Voight gruffly spoke.

"Really? I mean, we just met." Sullivan responded as he retracted his hand.

"Listen, there are rules when it comes to Voight and you have just broken rule number four."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Erin Lindsay." Voight spoke up once again, attempting to control his temper that was quickly rising.

"That is confidential."

"Not anymore, so unless you want to end up at the bottom of Lake Michigan I suggest you start talking. And fast." Said Antonio.

"All I will tell you is that she is suspected of those crimes, there is circumstantial evidence supporting the crime and we have a credible witness."

"How about you take a look at this tape, and get back to me?" Dawson said sliding the disc over the table.

"What? You probably doctored the footage somehow, why should I?"

"We did no such thing, that is why it is still sealed in the case, if you take a look at the disc, you will find everything PROVING that Lindsay had nothing to do with what you are accusing her of, now I expect to be hearing back from you in the form of an apology to her, me and her partner." Voight said as he slid out of the booth, heading towards the door.

"Just a thought, but if you want to get into Intelligence that badly, you don't mess with the Sergeants daughter." Antonio added as he followed Voight out the door.

"Da-daughter?" he sat there dumbfounded.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the hospital, Jay received a text from Voight. ' _It's taken care of._ ' He read aloud.

Jay let out a sigh of relief as he leaned back into the chair.

"You hear that Er? We told you that everything would be ok, I would never let anything happen to you." He said as he got up, placing a kiss on her forehead, as he was sitting back down, he felt a light tug on the hem of his shirt, looking down he caught glimpse of a hand holding onto his shirt.

"Erin? Lindsay, hey can… can you hear me?" he asked as he quickly stood back up, taking her hand into his, leaning over the bed, hope lacing his fatigued voice as he looked towards the woman lying in the bed. He stood over her a few minutes, searching for any signs of life, only to have disappointment, going on to assume that it was his imagination.

"You're such a tease." He breathed as he let out a sigh, sitting back into the chair.

"You would know Halstead." He heard a small raspy voice speak from the bed.

"Er? I knew I wasn't imagining things." He spoke, jumping up from the chair, looking into the green eyes that melt him, the eyes that he had been longing to see, over the past four days.

"No, you're not." She told him as she attempted to sit up, grimacing at the pain, forcing her to lay back down.

"Don't ever scare me like that again." He said, helping her into a sitting-up position, kissing the knuckles of her left hand as he sat down next to her "Are you ok? How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?"

"I'm as good as one can be Halstead. I mean I was just in a car accident."

"So you remember?" he asked as he dropped her hand.

"I remember bits and pieces."

"Like?" he said curiously, wanting to know if she remembered her showing up at his door, and that the car accident was his fault in the first place.

"Can we talk about this later? I just really could use a glass of water right now."

Jay nodded his head in acknowledgement, agreeing that now was not the right time. He got up off the side of the bed, walking over to the vanity, grabbing her the requested cup of water. He handed her the cup full, which she graciously accepted.

"Better?" he asked as she finished the last sip.

"Much. Thank you." She told him as she pulled the covers up over her chest and lowered her bed back down into a comfortable sleeping position. She laid there attempting to toss and turn back and forth, unable to fall asleep even though she had plenty of medicine in her system to knock her out. She finally gave up and let out a big sigh.

"I give up." She said aloud as she stared up at the ceiling, beginning to count the tiles.

"What?" Jay asked, as he continued to watch amusedly as he had been doing for the past thirty minutes.

"I hate hospitals, with a passion and now I am remembering why."

Jay chuckled at her remark, "Glad to know that my couch is not the only place you cannot fall asleep comfortably on." he said, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Well maybe you should get a softer couch, and not one that feels like a bed of rocks and nails, then maybe we will talk." She joked.

"Like you're one to talk! Your couch gives me a stiff neck and an aching back." He laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sounds like a personal problem to me." She retorted crossing her arms over her chest.

They sat there in silence for a few more minutes, Erin going back to her tossing and turning.

"Sleep with me?"

"What? I'm pretty sure we have been there and done that, already Linds. Several times now, infact." Jay laughed, taking her question the wrong way.

"You know what I mean, will you please get into this damn bed with me."

"Why Erin, I have been watching you toss and turn for the past forty-five minutes, never thought you would be begging for me to hop into bed with you." He joked, kicking off his shoes.

"It's just.. I don't know, I seem to sleep better with you around." She said biting her lip, holding back a smile, as she slowly moved across the small hospital bed.

Jay bit his cheek, attempting to hold back the smile that was forming on his lips.

He crawled onto the small bed, pushing his body up next to Erin's keeping in mind her internal injuries that were still healing, he placed a kiss on her shoulder, rubbing his right hand up and down her right arm, and after a few minutes he heard her breathing even out and slow. He too soon found sleep calling his name, as he had comfort that she was alive, that she was going to live, but the guilt in the back of his head only allowed for a small amount of sleep. He laid there dozing off and on for what felt like minutes but was actually hours, hearing footsteps in the room he awoke from his slumber.

"Now, this… This is an improvement Mr. Halstead." He heard his favorite soft spoken nurse say as she walked throughout the room.

"Evening Jessica. How are you?" Jay whispered as he lifted his head to see the older nurse walking over to the edge of the bed.

"I'm good. How's Ms. Lindsay?" she asked as she stepped over to check her vitals.

"I am sore." Came the raspy voice laying beside Jay.

"Ms. Lindsay, I am glad to see that you are awake. Has anyone been by since you got up?" the nurse asked as she went after the electronic tablet on the cart outside the room.

"Nope. I got up around… four this afternoon?"

"Ok, that was about four hours ago, let me go get a doctor and we will explain everything to you." She told them before walking out the and down the hall. Five minutes later she returned with a man in a white coat.

"Detective Halstead.' The man acknowledged as he walked into the room. 'Ms. Lindsay, glad to see that you are awake. I am Doctor Armada, I am going to go ahead and give it to you straight, you are lucky to be alive. You have been unconscious for the past five days, two of the five you were in a medically induced coma. Now in most cases, with the similar type of injuries to yours, they do not make it. You were in a car accident, where the car rolled somewhere around five times, if I am not mistaken. You were not buckled, which caused you to end up in the floorboard in the back of the vehicle. You sustained multiple life-threatening injuries and arrived to Chicago Med with a depressed skull fracture, an exposed artery in your right leg, a broken right radius, and a collapsed lung, as well as internal bruising and tearing to your kidney, liver, and lung."

Erin sat there in shock, trying to take in everything that he had just said. Jay stood beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Now, I have already told Detective Halstead and Sergeant Voight this but pending no complications once you are released you will need to stay with someone for a few days, until you can safely get back on your feet, I then will need to see you once a month for six months for a CT scan to check on progress. You will be able to return to desk work after six months, and pending my approval you can return to active duty in a year."

"One year?!" Erin practically screamed.

"I'm sorry, but that is the normal recovery time for anyone that has sustained this type of head injury. You are allowed to go to the gun range here in a few months though, pending mine and your sergeant's clearance."

"Thanks doc." Jay acknowledged, as Erin was still processing the doctors' orders.

"If you have any questions I am on-call tonight, or just ask Alec or Will." He said as he walked out the door.

"One Year?! I have already been gone eleven months and then this happens." She thought aloud.

"Hey, it will all be ok. You're not alone in this." Jay said as he lightly squeezed her hand, sitting down onto the bed next to her.

She quickly let go of his hand and turned her head.

"Lindsay, are you ok?" he asked as he brushed his hand against her arm.

"No, Jay. I'm not." She told him, her face still turned away from his. ' _Would you be? I mean I just got reinstated after being gone for almost a year! And I just got told it will be another year before I can return._ ' she thought to herself.

He could feel his heart shatter into a million pieces as it was thrown onto the floor, the temperature in the room dropping, becoming as cold.

"Hey, look at me. What's going on?" he said, only to get no response.

"Er, look at me." He said once again as he lifted his hand, placing his index finger under her chin, turning her head towards him.

"What do you want Jay?' she asked as he noticed the tears in her eyes. 'You shouldn't even be here right now! Shouldn't you be at home with the girl that's in your apartment? I think that it would be better if you left, you were here to see that I lived now your little conscious can relax, seeing as you caused this mess in the first place. So go fucking home to that fucking goddamn chick that answered your door." She spatted as turned her head away from him.

"She's nothing to me."

"Well she certainly looked like she was something to me, I don't want to mess up whatever you two have going on so why don't you just go the fuck home."

"I can't go home."

"And why is that?"

"Because she's not you."

"Oh bullshit, Jay. I was gone for eleven months, I am a big girl, I understand if you moved on."

"Oh my God Erin, Just- Why do you make this so difficult! Ok, listen the girl in the apartment is Will's girlfriend Rachel, she works most nights down in the E.R and had a night off so Will asked if I could take her out to a nice restaurant and stay with her so she wouldn't have to wait alone till he was able to get off work."

"Oh…" she said, as she felt her cheeks redden. "I guess I should have asked."

"Maybe Er, but see that's your problem, you don't think before you leap." He told her as he paced the room. "You died Erin. I watched them insert a tube into your chest and wheel you into the ambo. Then one minute I was talking to you, begging you not to die because I don't know what I would do without you and that I… And then I tried to resuscitate you Erin, Brett couldn't, the AED couldn't, and so I pounded on your chest for eight minutes Erin. You were dead for eight minutes, before they brought you back to life. I have been sitting here for the past four days telling you some of my deepest secrets and fondest memories."

"I-" she began.

"Am I interrupting something?" they heard a gruff voice ask, coming from the door.

"Jay here has said that one day when I get somewhat better, we will go to the shooting range as soon as I get out of this hellhole, so that I can prove who the better shot is." She lied as she punched Jay in the shoulder with her good hand and knocked him off the bed, giving him a look that they will finish this conversation later.

"Hey, kid." Voight said as he walked over giving her a hug.

"Hey, so I guess I won't be back to work for a while..." she said disappointedly

"You, let me worry about that…" he said with a grin on his face.

She returned the grin, and once again began to feel the effects of her medicine taking control over her body, her eyelids growing heavy.

"Hey, why don't you close your eyes and get some rest, and we will talk later?" Voight bargained, noticing Erin growing sleepy.

She nodded her head and Jay helped her pull the covers back up. She was almost asleep, but was still conscious enough to hear the conversation between her boss/pseudo-father and her partner.

"So, what did Sullivan want?" Jay asked quietly, thinking that Erin was asleep.

"You're not going to believe this, the kid wants a damn spot in intelligence."

"You're kidding."

"Nope, and he thought that he could get in by investigating Erin, the kid did no background research before looking into her."

"What a dumbass."

"Well, me and Dawson had a little heart to heart with the man, and we should be hearing back from him anytime now.." Voight said as he glanced at his watch.

' _I need to ask them what the hell is going on.'_ She thought to herself as she felt sleep grasping at her. _'Maybe tomorrow.'_


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey Guys! Hope your day or evening is going well:) A new week means a new chapter! Hope you enjoy! And as always thank you for all the reviews/faves/follows!**

* * *

As Erin woke the next morning, she went to rub the sleep out of her eyes, only to ultimately fail as she rose her hand, feeling something heavy on her right hand. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and brought her hand up to her face, inspecting the hard black material.

 _'_ _Love you Kid.'- Voight_

 _'_ _Imagine if you could make this thing change colors…' –Mouse_

 _'_ _Girl, this will totally not match your bridesmaid dress. Hint, hint. Wink, wink.'-Kim_

 _'_ _Black is badass, just saying partner;)'-J_

With signatures from Platt, Atwater, Dawson and Olinsky along with a few of the people from fifty-one, all written in silver and gold permanent marker.

She slowly lifted her ailing body from the hospital bed, sharp pain coming from her head and abdomen.

"Hey, hey, hey, take it easy." She heard a small voice say coming from her left.

"Wha.. Kim? What are you doing here?" Erin spoke as she gave her friend a hug.

"I have the day off, and I haven't seen you in almost a year, we have a lot to catch up on." Kim said smiling.

"We do don't we.' Erin said returning the smile 'Why don't we start, where we left, the last I heard in person was that you and Ruzek got engaged, how did that go?"

"Well, it was defiantly not your typical romantic doves and rose petals engagement, he didn't even get down on one knee. It all kind of happened fast, like our relationship, we were in the locker room and he had been acting weird all day, next thing I know he says 'You and I are freaking awesome and I want to spend the rest of my life with you' and I said yes." Kim smiled as she retold the memory.

"Well a belated Congratulations from me." Erin said returning the smile.

"Thank you, and I would love to have you as one of my bridesmaids if you feel up to it?"

"I would love to. And if you need help with anything, just ask cripple here, I think I can find some time." Erin joked. "So where's Halstead, has he found himself a new partner that lets him drive already?"

"No, he had to make a run to the district for a few, so he sent me to keep you company."

"Oh.." Erin said with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Say, what does it take to get some food around here?"

"Well, Dr. McHottyPants has said that you can try soup or jello?"

"Dr. McHottyPants? Kim, you have been watching way too much _Grey's_ and besides aren't you off the market?" Erin laughed.

"What? Dr. Halstead is not bad looking! And I have been binge watching, ok? It's my guilty pleasure."

Kim and Erin continued making small talk, catching up on life and Burgess ordered some lunch.

"Well, I can fortunately say that this is some of the worst food I have ever eaten." Kim said as she pushed her tray to the side "Be glad you cannot have this crap."

"Well, being on the strict diet of liquids, soup or jello is no fun either." She said reaching over to her side and grabbing her IV line, adjusting the morphine intake.

"Feeling the pain, huh?"

"Yeah, my head is killing me."

"Well, from what I have been told, you might as well get used to it. I have a cousin who has plates in her head and she is able to predict the weather."

"Really? Predict the weather? Sounds supernatural"

"Apparently it has something to do with the pressure in the atmosphere? But hey, on the bright side you don't have to go through the metal detector at the precinct anymore." Kim laughed.

"Yeah." Erin groggily mumbled before sub coming to the effects of her medicine.

As she woke later that evening, she found the room empty, a note on the table in front of her.

 _Brought you some things to keep you entertained, and if you get bored just a reminder you could be doing paperwork, which I will glad share. – Hank_

Lying next to the folded piece of paper was some magazines, her phone, laptop and kindle.

Over the next few days, Erin quickly became jaded, she had read the magazines three times over; started several television series off her kindle on Netflix and Hulu but one can only watch so much; her laptop was pointless, as she was not able to work on any case.

The Intelligence Unit came by when possible, she could only figure that they were swamped with some big case. She mainly spent her days alone, strolling the halls of the hospital in a wheelchair and getting to know the nurses.

It had been eleven days since the accident, and seven since she had woken-up from her medical induced coma.

"Good Morning Ms. Lindsay."

"Good Morning Jessica, you gone for the day?" Erin asked the older nurse.

"Yep, my shift is over so I am out of here, thought I would swing by before I left."

"Hope you get some shut eye, see you tonight, lord knows I will still be here…" Erin said, rolling her eyes.

"Actually, you are getting discharged today, they decided last night, they need the bed and you have a good support system at home. Someone will be by to pick you up this afternoon."

"Really!" Erin asked, a glow now filling her eyes.

"Yes, you Ms. Erin are going home."

"Finally! Thank you so much Jess. I really do not know what I would have done without you, probably go insane but…"

"Hey, don't sweat it! Listen,' the woman said as she pulled a piece of paper from her purse 'here is my phone number, if you ever need anything or just to talk, feel free to call me." She said as she wrote on the paper before handing it to Erin.

"Thank You." Erin said before giving the nurse a hug.

As morning grew into the afternoon, Erin had gathered all her belongings, showered, and was dressed and ready to go sitting on the corner of the hospital bed, impatiently waiting.

12:32 p.m.

She sat with her back towards the door, watching the crap they call daytime television.

"You're late." She said as she heard footsteps approaching behind her.

"Sorry, I got wrapped up in a case, and traffic is a me-"

"Save it Halstead. Let's go." Erin said as she moved off the bed and sat down into the wheelchair by the door, leaving Jay to grab her bags.

"Ok." Jay sighed as he ran a hand through his hair before turning around to grab the two bags and pillow. "This everything?"

"Pretty sure. Now hurry up, I think I just seen a snail and a turtle racing outside the door."

"Wow, they must have you on the good meds Linds." Jay joked as they made their way onto the elevator.

They made their way down to the lobby and out to his waiting car, "I can walk from here." Erin said as she placed her feet on the ground and slowly began to stand up in the middle of the lobby.

"What? Erin, you can't be serious."

"Dead." Erin retorted as she slowly made her way to the car, her world spinning all the way.

"I swear you are the most stubborn…" Jay mumbled under his breath as he took notice of her wobbling and ever so slightly wrapped his arm carefully around her midsection, attempting to avoid the site of surgery. And he was glad he did, because her legs soon gave out from the walk.

"Thanks." She grumbled.

He was ever the gentleman, opening the car door, helping her in, and loading her bags. He closed the trunk and climbed into the driver seat, cranking the engine and throwing the car into drive.

"Don't you dare get used to driving." She said, glaring towards him.

"Don't worry, I am still your househusband. But you will not be getting into the driver's seat for several more weeks, get used to it." Jay wryly laughed.

Erin could only let out a small laugh, as the bumps in the road began to cause nausea and pain. She found sleep pulling at her and she gave in, resting her head on the cold glass of the car door. Twenty minutes after they had left the hospital, they arrived in front of the ever so familiar two story house. Erin opening her eyes, as the car came to a stop.

Silence filled the air, as she looked out the window.

"Can you please just take me to the Hilton on South Michigan?" Erin pleaded, her raspy voice cracking through the thick silence of the car.

"Nope. Sorry. But that is not part of the deal."

"I'm serious Jay. I am not staying here." She argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm serious too Er. You will be staying here, you have no other choice." Jay argued as he stepped out of the car.

"But…"

"No but's. There was a mutual agreement that you would be staying here until you got back on your feet and back to your own place."

"Fine,' Erin reluctantly mumbled 'but I will not be going back to that apartment. I need to start over, start fresh." She admitted as Jay helped her from the car.

 _"_ _Nadia? You home?" Erin asked as she walked through the front door of her apartment, placing her coat onto the rack. She placed her keys on the side table, reading the note tapped to the mirror. Silence practically filled the apartment, the only sound was of her combat boots hitting the floor as she slipped them off at the door._

 _"_ _Coast is clear. Note says she is studying, won't be back tonight." She said as she heard footsteps enter behind her, and the door shutting. She made her way into the kitchen, not looking back, and over to the refrigerator, grabbing two bottles of cold brew from the top shelf._

 _"_ _You know, we could always just come clean…" the deep voice spoke softly as he leaned against the countertop, accepting the bottle of beer that he was being handed._

 _"_ _Yeah… Or we could just keep our personal lives personal and Hank can mind his own damn business." Erin argued as she jumped up on to the countertop._

 _"_ _Er, like I have said before I don't want to sneak around behind his back. I mean he would have more respect for the both of us if we came clean."_

 _"_ _And Jay, as I have told you before if we come clean, there is a good chance that we would both get transferred!"_

 _"_ _He pardoned Burgess and Ruzek! Why not us?"_

 _"_ _Burgess was shot." Erin reminded him as she hopped off the counter, walking over to the fridge, grabbing her another bottle of the cold amber liquid._

 _She brought the brim of the bottle to her lips, taking a sip before she felt his warm breath on her neck._

 _"_ _Yeah? And just what part of your body would you sacrifice?" he asked as he teased the skin of her neck, his lips barely grazing, the warmth of his breath sending a spark down Erin's spine._

 _"_ _Really? Not this again." she laughed, rolling her eyes._

 _"_ _Answer it or I will have you in pure and incomplete torture… All… night… long…" he purred into her ear._

 _"_ _Hmmm… Shoulder?"_

 _"_ _Not quite."_

 _"_ _Fleshy part of the thigh?" she bargained as she turned around._

 _"_ _Now that is more like it." He smiled, placing a long and slow passionate kiss on her soft lips before he lifted her up onto the countertop she had occupied just minutes before, maneuvering them both from the kitchen to the living room, their lips never leaving one another's. Jay under-estimated the distance to the couch as they both fell over the arm of the sofa, laughter escaping from both of them._

 _Erin quickly raised Jay's shirt up and over his head, Jay's lips moving down to the crevasse of her neck, before he quickly raised Erin's shirt over her head, throwing it across the room. Her hands quickly made their way to the belt buckle on his jeans, and had just begun to unbutton the fabric when she heard the faint ringing of her phone coming behind her._

 _"_ _Ignore it." Jay pleaded, as he noticed Erin begin to squirm._

 _"_ _But what if it's important?" Erin argued._

 _"_ _They can leave a message. Besides, you said Nadia is Studying, Voight is probably in his Office and I am right here." He answered, before returning his lips to her._

 _"_ _You are such a dork." Erin laughed as she pushed him back "I am just going to see who it is, I would rather not have Hank come busting in my door and see us both half-clothed with our tongues down each other's throats."_

 _As she made her way to the counter, the caller had disconnected, leaving her with a voicemail and several new text messages. She ignored the Voicemail for the time being and skimmed through the to the text messages._

 _"_ _Oh Shit." Erin said as she quickly threw her phone back down, Jay giving her a 'what the heck' raising of the eyebrow look, as he stood behind her._

 _"_ _Nadia. Her study group got cancelled, something about the flu, she forgot her key and is currently on her way up the elevator." Erin hissed, pointing at the front door as she ran into the living room, quickly looking around for her discarded shirt, which she found strewn on top of the lamp on the other side of the room. "Hide."_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _I said Hide. Now, Jay. Go." She hissed, pointing towards her bedroom._

 _"_ _Fine, I'll be waiting through." He said before running down the hallway._

 _Erin nodded her head and smiled, all of which quickly disappeared at his next words._

 _"_ _Good luck explaining the hickey on your neck." He laughed before shutting the bedroom door._

 _"_ _You didn't!" she exclaimed, as she turned on the television, she could hear Jay laughing from the bedroom, 'This means war, Halstead.' She thought to herself as she pulled her hair down from the ponytail, running her fingers through it, trying to hide the bruise the best she could, when there came a knock from the front door._

 _"_ _Forgot your key huh?" Erin said as she opened the door._

 _"_ _Uhhh? Oh, yeah. I was in a rush when I left earlier." Nadia claimed as she walked through the front door. "Listen, I am going to go change real quick, do you wanna head out to Molly's with me and grab a drink?"_

 _"_ _I would love to, but I am beat, I think I am just going to 'lax out on the couch and watch some baseball."_

 _Ten minutes later, Nadia was walking though the living room, grabbing her keys before she went out._

 _"_ _Are you sure you don't want to come? I hate it when you make me get drunk alone…"_

 _"_ _Nads, go! It has been a rough week, I just want to be a homebody for the weekend. "_

 _"_ _Fine, Er. You know, I really wish for once you and Halstead would stop being so secretive and just go out in public."_

 _Erin's eyes grew wide "You know?!"_

 _"_ _Ummm Hello? There is like a whole case of drunken beer sitting on the counter that you could not possibly drink on your own, two: his car is downstairs, three: the toilet seat is up in the bathroom, and four you have a hickey on your neck!"_

 _"_ _Nice detective work there rookie." Erin laughed as she jumped off the couch, pushing Nadia out the door._

 _"_ _Plus I am your roommate and you two making googley eyes at each other all day doesn't help.."_

 _"_ _Goodnight Nadia." Erin said as she shut the door._

 _"_ _Night Erin." Nadia laughed as she walked down the hallway._

"You know, Nadia knew about us right?" Erin asked as they walked up the steps.

"That doesn't surprise me." Jay laughed as they walked through the front door. "Apparently Antonio knew too."

"Dawson knows what?" Erin heard a gruff voice ask from the top of the stairs as she sat onto the couch.

"Better question is, what doesn't the man know."

"Good point.' Voight said as he reached the living room 'Welcome home Erin."

"Yeah…" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey now, it's not that bad. Ok, so you know where everything is, but someone has to stay with you over the next few days just as a safety precaution, so Halstead here has volunteered to stay with you during the day and I will be here at night. And you better be following to the doctors instructions to a tee. Now Halstead, I know you are working a case right now, but I want you to throw it on the back burner for a few days, in the meantime you can catch up on paperwork."

"Yes Sir."

"Lastly, I am just reminding you that I can transfer either one of you sho-"

"Go Hank, I just wanna get some sleep right now." Erin said annoyed as she laid on the couch.

"Ok, fine. Call me if you need something." Voight told them as he threw on his jacket before walking out the door.

"Ok… So you know this place better than I do, but is there anything I can get you?"

"You know, I could really go for a drink right now…"

"You're kidding, right?" Jay nervously laughed.

"No, I really could use a drink… of water. If that is ok with you." Erin joked.

"Seriously Linds, you kill me sometimes." Jay laughed as he headed towards the kitchen.

"So it only took me like five minutes to find the glass cabinet, but here is your… water." Jay said as he returned to the room a few minutes later, as he made his way to the couch, he could not help but smile at the sight before him. Erin was laid out on the couch, her hair falling over her bandage on her head and into her face, sound asleep. Jay sat the glass down on the coffee table and walked over to the sofa, grabbing the blanket off the back of the chair, covering her up before he leant down and placed a light kiss on her forehead. Feeling tired himself, Jay walked over and fell into the reclining chair, soon crashing from the lack of sleep over the past few days.

When Erin awoke, she was surprised to find herself so comfortable, with all of her injuries, she was expecting to be in pain, not to be in her old bed, a blanket covering her, along with an arm lightly wrapped around her waist. She looked to her left and smiled as she seen him lying beside her, his mouth slightly agape, sound asleep. She laid there and began to study what had changed in almost a year of not seeing him. She came to the conclusion that not much had changed within the past eleven months other than he seemed to be more muscular, but a lot had changed within the past eleven days. His eyes were sunken, dark rings were noticeable underneath, long stubble covered the side of his face that she could see, and the lines of worry was written all over his forehead, his hair was slightly longer and gelled back. She knew they needed to finish their conversation from days earlier at the hospital, but she certainly did not want to wake up the sleeping man beside her. She slowly lifted his hand from her waist, and made her way out of the bed, out into the hallway and down the stairs.

"Nice to see you awake." She heard a gravelly voice ask from behind a newspaper.

"What time is it?"

"A quarter pass eleven. You and Halstead were both out like a light, I didn't want to disturb, and Lord knows the kid hasn't slept since the accident." Voight said as he put the paper down and got up from the table.

"You know Hank, I just want to apologize for everything I have put you through, and not only you, but everyone." She asked forgiveness as she sat down at the table.

"Don't sweat it kid, things happen." Voight accepted her apology as he walked over to Erin, giving her a handful of medicine. "Just next time, look both ways before going through a red light"

"So you know?"

"I know plenty of things."

"Well I am glad that you do, but I for one have a question."

"And I might have an answer.."

"Who's Sullivan?"

Voight's mouth fell open. ' _How does she know? When did she find out?_ ' ran through his mind.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Voight said, playing clueless.

"Drop the act Hank, I heard you and Halstead talking about some guy that was investigating me and that you and Antonio went and talked to him! I just want to know what the hell is going on!" Erin shouted.

"Erin, don't worry about it. It's taken care of."

"Damn It Hank! I deserve to know!"

"And when the time is righ-"

"Voight. Just tell her." Jay said as he entered the room.

Voight let out a sigh of defeat. "You were being investigated by a guy in Narcotics. While we were waiting for you to wake up, Jay had stepped out for a minute and when he walked back in you were handcuffed to the hospital bed."

"On what charges?!" Erin scoffed.

"According to Detective Sullivan, he was presented with circumstance evidence which led your arrest under the distribution and selling of narcotics to an undercover federal agent and attempted first degree murder and kidnapping."

"You have got to be kidding me. Please tell me this is a joke that Ruzek wanted to get me back. I mean… what?" Erin vented as she paced.

"Erin, you need to sit, you're going to re-open your wounds." Jay said as he leaned back against the wall.

"Don't tell me what to do." She said pointing a finger.

"Would you like to know the rest?" Voight asked.

"There's more?"

"It supposedly took place eight months ago."

"Eight months? I was in rehab, in freaking Iowa!"

"Erin, don't worry about it, we took care of it. The only thing this guy should be doing is giving you an apology."

"I really hope you guys are right…" Erin sighed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, I was on vacation before College starts back on Monday :(**

 **I was honestly not sure what to do in this chapter, but I had to do something to get to the main part of the story. Anyways... As always thank you for the reviews/follows/faves, they really do keep me going. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

After some more questioning and convincing that they really did have everything under control, Erin reluctantly agreed that they did indeed have it all under control.

"Alright, well I don't have a clue as to what you gave me but whatever it was, it has made me sleepy, which is weird considering I just slept like nine hours. Night." Erin told them as she made her way back up the stairs.

"Alright well I will be back here at seven in the morning, night Voight." Jay said as he headed towards the front door.

"Halstead, wait. It's late, and I have to be in the office early tomorrow to work on something, so you can stay… Par you sleep on the couch."

"That's really not necessary. The part about me staying the night, not the part about me sleeping on the couch, I mean where else would I sleep? I am going to shut up now. I love couches. Thanks Sarg."

Voight stood there with a blank but yet entertained look on his face as Jay kept digging himself a deeper hole.

"Goodnight Halstead." Voight said turning off the lights and heading up the stairs.

"Goodnight Sir." Jay said as he sat down on the sofa.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jay woke-up the next morning with a crick in his neck and an ache in his back. He mentally cursed himself and stretched, before he stood and made his way into the kitchen.

"I didn't wake you did I? I'm so sorry if I did, I tried to be quiet but how in the hell do you work this freaking toaster?"

"No, you didn't wake me. And I think it would help if the toaster was plugged into the wall there Linds." Jay laughed at the sight before him.

"Oh, don't even. You're the one to my knowledge, that does not even know how to make a proper pot of coffee!"

"Hey now, that was like once! Besides maybe I cannot make coffee but you absolutely die when I cook."

"Touché Halstead."

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Like I have spent the last few days high as a kite." Erin joked.

"Wow, you have seriously lost it, just how hard in the head were you hit?"

"Evidently pretty hard from what I have been told about the accident I caused but then again I was apparently being jealous and I died so what does it matter?" Erin said as she grabbed her food from the toaster before sitting in a chair across from Jay.

"Not this again, Er."

"Now is as good time as any Jay, might as well finish what we started."

"Fine. Where did we leave off… Oh yes, you Erin are a stubborn, thick headed, self-minded crazy blonde haired woman that is my partner and best friend who I am freaking crazy about! But she cannot seem to put her love life before her work life, so you are right what does it matter?"

"Jay… I mean it does matter. But, I think for the time being it is just best if we were to keep it professional or at least on friendly terms. I'm not saying I don't want you, because I do, but I just got out of rehab, I would just really appreciate it if you were just here for me." she admitted.

"And what makes you think I'm not here for you Er? I'm with you, every step of the way. We all are." he reassured her.

The rest of the morning went on lazily, Erin ate and went back to bed, while Jay worked on paperwork.

"What are you doing'?" Erin asked as she walked down the stairs, into the living room from her morning nap.

"Three guesses and the first two do not count." Jay laughed as he turned around from the couch.

"Paperwork?"

"Of course. You want to help?"

"Eh, sure."

"Erin I was joking."

"Well, I'm not. I am about to die of boredom. So what are you working on?"

"Fine. It's a case I've been working on for months, this guy' he said as he dug through the files on the table. 'is one Juan-Carlos Ramirez. The scum is suspected of all sorts of things, from drug distribution to sex trafficking to money laundering to attempted murder, if you can think of it, chances are he has done it."

"Ok, well why is he not behind bars?"

"That's where it gets tricky, it's practically impossible to catch the guy."

"What about undercover?"

"We are working on getting in, but it has been a tough process so far. He runs his business mainly from his upper class hotel in Oak Park, but he also distributes from his house in the East Side, out in Arlington Heights. So I am having to pick and choose which to investigate, since there is only one of me."

"But what if there's not?"

"Not what?" he asked confused.

"What if there was you and me?"

"Erin, I mean-"

"Ok, just hear me out. How close are you to getting in to the hotel business?"

"Pretty close, I have a second interview next week. Lindsay where are you going with this?"

"Ok, so if you were able to get access into the hotel side of things, what if I could get access to the home side of things. It has already been made clear that I won't be returning to work anytime soon, but what if I could work from home? The district can obtain a house near Ramirez, we go undercover as a couple, you get hired into his business and I run a 'business' from home, all the while we gather Intel to bring down this guy."

"I don't know Linds.' He said rubbing the back of his neck 'I like the idea, but it seems too risky, I mean why don't we just have someone else like Ruzek and Burgess go undercover instead?"

"You know why Jay! They are too green and they don't work together as well as you and me, we have done this a hundred times, and we are both familiar with how this works."

"Yeah, but we have never done an op for this long."

"Ok, if it makes you feel better, why don't we run this by Voight?"

"I don't know…"

"Just say yes."

"Ok, fine…" Jay sighed as he gave in.

The afternoon went by quick, Erin studying the case files, while Jay relaxed and watched a baseball game on T.V.

"How are we feeling?" Voight asked as he walked through the backdoor and into the living room a quarter after six.

"I'm Great!" Erin responded with a little too much perkiness in her voice and a sparkle in her eye.

"Ok, what's going on? I haven't seen you like this in years." Laughed Voight as he sat down on the couch next to Erin.

"Well, I have suggestion, more like an idea, but Halstead is on board and I am hoping that you will be too.."

Erin explained her idea to Hank, giving him a more detailed version than she had givin Jay.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I don't know Erin, I mean you just got back and got reinstated, and you were critically injured in a car accident…"

"Please, please, please, please? I promise not do anything against the doctors' orders, and this way I can stay home and heal and possibly get back into the field quicker as soon as the case ends." She begged, giving him a pouting lip.

"Fine, and just so you know the puppy face has never worked on me." Voight sighed "You can get up and go with me in the morning to the district so we can start on your background."

Over the next few days the Intelligence Unit worked around the clock on finalizing the details of the impromptu covert operation.

"Ok, so luckily the district was able to get a house on the same block as Ramirez. Voight is sending Mouse over to upgrade the security system, Olinsky and I will be going over tomorrow morning posing as movers, and Ruzek will be doing some landscaping by placing cameras outside the property. Here is the files on each of your backgrounds, study them as much as possible." Dawson informed them as he handed them each a manila file folder, as they sat in the empty bullpen.

"Who are our points of contact?"

"Roman will be posing as a mail-man daily and Burgess will be Erin's business partner who comes by about once a week to talk 'business'. Now, to get around you will have two cars, one will be Halstead's, a 2012 Chevy Silverado, and Lindsay you get a 2014 Shelby Mustang GT500. Please, please, please be careful, they are rentals." Dawson pleaded as he reluctantly handed over the keys.

"Aww, com'on! Why does she get the sports car?" questioned Jay.

"Not my decision, sorry. You will move in tomorrow evening, so be sure to pack everything you will need for at most a few months."

"Yes Dad." Erin joked as she got up to leave.

"One more thing, you will both need these,' he said as he reached into his pocket 'Congratulations, I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Jacob and Erica Holden ."


End file.
